Reality Bites
by MotoXAngels
Summary: When the dead begin walking, Rayne Lyall sets out to locate the rest of her family. On her way she meets a rag tag bunch of survivors, including a redneck hunter with an itchy trigger finger and a cop with serious mental issues. Rayne has proven she can survive the dead but can she survive the living?
1. Guts

**Disclaimer - I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

Hey everyone, if you are reading this story then let me first start out by saying, thank you. I have been writing original stories and FanFiction for the better part of my life. This is the second story I have chosen to share with the world. This first chapter is sort of a test to see if you guys like my character and my interpretation of The Walking Dead series. This story starts during the 1st episode of Season 1. Please give me any advice or suggestions to help make my writing better. But please no nasty reviews, I will warn you now, I can be very bitchy when attacked. With that being said, I hope you enjoy.

* * *

The end of the world had always been somewhat of a joke to the race of humans, only few actually believed it was possible and tried to prepare for it. Of course, there was only so much you could prepare for. So certain people did what they could; built shelters, gathered supplies, stocked up on food, etc.

But nothing could prepare the world for the day when the dead walked.

* * *

A lone figure kneeled on the edge of the roof high above, watching the scene unfolding on the building below with interest. The group consisting of a male cop from out of town, the young Asian man who had saved him from a horde of walkers, a trigger happy redneck, an African-American man with the stature of a football player, a Hispanic man, a tall thin African-American woman and a tall blonde woman.

The redneck was currently proving his incredibly low intelligence by shooting walkers from the top of the building with his high powered rifle. It would be no surprise to the stranger if the man was on drugs as well. Not only was he wasting what little ammo the stranger figured they had, but he was also attracting every walker in the city of Atlanta to their position.

By now a scuffle had broke out between the redneck and the African man. The redneck smacked him in the mouth with the stock of his rifle. The cop tried to intervene and paid the price with a punch to the mouth, knocking him down. The redneck turned back kicking the African in the stomach, who then fell on top of a pipe smacking his face. The redneck knelt over his body punching him repeatedly in the face.

The stranger took this act of aggression as a sign that the redneck didn't care for people whose skin color wasn't white. That alone was something the stranger couldn't stand, especially in these times, race should be the least of anyone's worries.

As he continued to beat the man, the other four stood by yelling at the redneck, none of them wanting to get in the middle of the brawl, fearful of what the man was capable of should they interfere. The redneck pulled out a hand-gun pointing it down in the man's face.

The cop stood up touching the blood on his lip as he eyed the situation with mild hesitation.

The redneck stood up, barking about having a pow wow, about who was in charge now, meaning himself. He voted himself, of course, then asked them to give a show of hands who was with him. None of them objected, of course not being stupid to oppose the crazy redneck with the gun. They each held up a hand, except the African woman who held up her middle finger.

That made a bold statement, the stranger smiled, the woman still had fire in her.

The redneck looked around asking if anybody else wanted to be in charge, a voice was heard behind him and like an idiot, he turned, only to be hit with the stock of his own rifle by the cop. The redneck hit the ground and the cop knelt his knee on the side of the man's face pinning him down. The cop pulled out his cuffs and shackled the man's right wrist to a piece of steel. He grabbed the man's hand-gun, ejecting the cartridge out of the chamber.

"Officer Friendly."

The cops reply to the redneck about his name made the stranger grin. The cop that earlier looked to be out of his element, scared, now seemed to be stepping up into a leadership role.

"There are no niggers anymore. No dumb-as-shit, inbred white-trash fools either. Only dark meat and white meat. There's us and the dead. We survive this by pulling together, not apart."

The stranger smiled, this cop thought exactly as they did. This was a new world and it required a completely different state of mind and thinking.

"Screw you, man." Apparently the redneck did not share their way of thinking.

"I can see you make a habit of missing the point."

"Yeah, well screw you twice."

"Ought to be polite to a man with a gun." The cop says using the mans earlier words against him as he presses the gun to his head. "Only common sense."

"You wouldn't. You're a cop."

The cop lowers the gun, "All I am anymore is a man looking for his wife and son. Anybody gets in the way of that's gonna lose. I'll give you a moment to think about that."

He searches the man's pockets and finds a vile of drugs, amid protests of the man he throws it off the top of the building. So now they all understood why he was acting the way he did. The group gets acquainted while trying to find a way back to their camp on the outskirts of the city.

The majority of the group takes off back inside the building, leaving the African man and the redneck on the roof.

The stranger stayed in place, just incase something went down that required their assistance.

Shortly after the group rejoins on the roof, obviously whatever they had planned didn't pan out. Again after some conversing, the group disappears minus the redneck. A while later they reappear minus the cop and Asian.

The stranger sees the two men down on the street, walking amongst the dead. Surprisingly they're not being attacked. Then realization hits, they had covered themselves in walker's blood and guts. Clever.

Then as if to remind everyone, they are not in control, the skies open up, the rain begins pelting down. The others watch helplessly as the blood washes off the two men as they are surrounded by walkers.

By now the stranger had disappeared from the roof above.

Suddenly the walkers start moaning, turning they give chase to the two men. They take off running knowing their game is up. They run for the fence in front of them, the walkers gaining on them with every step. They push forward, taking down every walker in their path. They had just reached the fence and started to scale it when the Asian's ankle is grabbed by a walker. The cop hesitates, then starts to climb back down to help, when the walker is slammed to the ground by a bullet piercing through its right eye.

"Hurry up! Run!"

The two of them look up to see a figure dressed in black, holding a rifle, on top of the very box van they were trying to reach. They hit the pavement, shrugging off their blood jackets and running as fast as they can for the van. The Asian heads for the keys while the cop takes down walkers trying to climb the fence, with the aid of the stranger.

The younger guy gets the keys and tosses them to the cop. They both turn, running for the van while the stranger covers them, then jumps down off the roof, opens the back door and climbs in as the two men get in the front.

The cop speeds the van backwards as the hoard breaks down the fence, scrambling towards them. They turn and plow through another fence speeding away from the walkers.

"Who are you?" The cop says looking back at the figure in black, a hood over their head and a black bandana covering everything but their Cerulean blue eyes.

"Introductions later. Right now let's go git yer friends." Their voice is muffled but the cop is sure it's female, with a distinct southern accent.

The Asian panics, "How? They're all over that place."

"You need to draw them away." The cop says. "Those roll-up doors at the front of the store—that area? —that's what I need cleared."

The Asian man whines, the cop silences him, "Raise your friends. Tell them to get down there and be ready."

"And I'm drawing the geeks away how? I—I missed that part."

"Noise." The cop replies.

The stranger speaks up, "I've got an idea. Head down that street."

They pull up next to a big black truck, sitting next to it is a 2011 red Dodge Challenger. The cop smiles catching onto the strangers train of thought. He grabs a crowbar and shatters the window, the car alarm instantly begins blaring. The Asian covers his ears at the loud invasive noise, as the cop reaches in and unlocks the door.

"Move outta the way." The stranger says pulling out a screwdriver and sliding into the drivers seat. A minute later and the car roars to life.

The Asian named Glenn, gets in the car and heads off down the street followed by the stranger in the black truck. The two vehicles follow the van down the street, the blaring of the car alarm and the loud stereo of the truck drawing the walkers towards them. They race past the van and reverse down the street in front of the store, side-by-side. They sit there drawing the walkers to them, away from the doors.

The two of them back up slowly as the hoard of walkers gets bigger, they're urging the swarm further back away from the store. Then quickly they flip the two vehicles 180 degrees and take off, the swarm of walkers following them.

As soon as they take off, the cop Rick, speeds in and backs up to the doors, gathering up the others and then taking off just as the walkers reach the van door.

"Who was that person helping you?" The Hispanic man asks.

Rick shakes his head, "No time for introductions. Guess we'll find out back at camp."

"Whoever they are, they got my trust." The African woman says sighing in relief.

The group looks around knowing they're missing someone, the African man looks up, "I dropped the damn key." None of them say anything, too relieved to be rid of the crazy redneck.

The blonde woman looks around, "Where's Glenn?"

On the deserted interstate headed out of town, the red Challenger and the black Ford truck fly down the road.


	2. Tell It To The Frogs

**Disclaimer - I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

Thank you to all of you who have followed or favorite myself and my story. In response to **ANGEL LOVE 1728** wanting to know more about the "stranger", here is the next chapter. I hope it doesn't disappoint.

* * *

The Challenger and the Ford speed past the van, the Ford following. Glenn is whooping and laughing as he passes them.

They pull up to the camp, high in the mountains. The entire camp approaches the Challenger, watching warily as the stranger gets out of the truck, approaching Glenn.

"Holy crap. Turn that damn thing off!" An older guy yells from the top of an RV referring to the loud as hell alarm that is still going off.

Glenn throws his arms up, "I don't know how!"

Another man and a young blonde woman asking about her sister, start yelling at Glenn, both at the same time, bombarding the kid. The stranger sighs, pushes past Glenn and the other man, "Pop the hood Glenn!"

The boy does as instructed, the stranger lifts the hood and pulls out a fuse, the alarm ceases.

Glenn finally gets tired of the girl barking questions at him, "Yes! She's fine! Yeah, fine. Everybody is. Well Merle, not so much."

The stranger tosses it to the man standing at their right, "Sorry bout that. Didn't have time to disconnect it before we left town."

"And just who the hell are you?" He snaps.

"Why don't we wait till the rest git back to do introductions?"

"How bout you tell me who you are right now or I'll beat it out of you!" The man threatens holding a rifle towards the strangers face.

In a split second the stranger has a Glock 9mm pointed straight between the man's eyes, he freezes, he never saw the person move.

"You should control that temper better. Now like I said, let's wait. Hmm."

The man nods backing up as the stranger lowers the gun. Trying to shake off the slight intimidation he turns his anger to Glenn, "Are you crazy, driving this wailing bastard up here? Are you trying to draw every walker for miles?"

"I think we're okay." The older man says, he must of come down from the RV while they were all talking.

The man scoffs, "You call being stupid okay?"

"Well, the alarm was echoing all over these hills. Hard to pinpoint the source." The man gives him a look that makes him backpedal, "I'm not arguing, I'm just saying. It wouldn't hurt you to think things through a little more carefully next time, would it?"

"Sorry." Glenn says. "Got a cool car."

Everyone turns as the van pulls up, the Hispanic man gets out first, his family embracing him.

The blonde woman gets out of the back, "Amy!" The small blonde who was interrogating Glenn starts crying, "Andrea!" The two sisters run forward and embrace one another.

The stranger notices the cheerful family reunions seem to be too much for a tall brunette woman and her young son. They turn walking away from the group, the woman kneels down in front of the boy, both of them shedding tears as they speak in whispers.

The rest of the group embraces the Hispanic man, the man standing next to the stranger speaks up, "How'd you get out of there anyway?"

"New guy—he got us out." Glenn says, then points to the person standing by the Challenger, "And the stranger over there."

"New guy?" The man asks.

"Yeah, crazy Vato just got into town." The Hispanic man says turning back to the van, "Hey, helicopter boy! Come say hello." He turns back to the man, "He's a cop like you."

The man's face is one of shock as he sees the other cop approach from the van. The kid and the mom both turn their heads. The cop sees them, he points at them in disbelief, "Oh my God," before he starts towards them not sure if they are real or a figment of his imagination.

The boy runs towards the cop, "Dad! Dad!" The woman follows, as the three embrace one another, the tears begin running freely. The entire camp watches the unbelievable reunion, everyone sharing in the momentous moment.

The two cops share a smile as they lock eyes, not believing they found one another.

Only the stranger notices the solemn look that crosses the curly haired man's face as he watches Rick with his family. It passes as his eyes move to the stranger, "So, bout those introductions."

The stranger nods, pulling the bandana down from their mouth, it settles around their neck. The hood follows and the group collectively gasps as the long dark brown hair falls down from inside the hood.

Rick gives a genuine smile as he approaches the woman, he holds out his hand. "Thank you. You saved our asses."

"Yer welcome." The woman says, a southern drawl accompanying her words. She turns to the group, "I'm Rayne Lyall, but I prefer Phoenix or Nix for short."

A loud bark echoes from inside the truck, she smiles before whistling, and a big gunmetal gray Pit Bull jumps out of the open door and trots to her side, sitting down beside her. "And this is Titan."

The group introduces themselves; Glenn and Rick who she already met, the Hispanic man Morales and his family, the old man Dale, the mechanic Jim, the two sisters Andrea and Amy, Rick's wife Lori and son Carl, the African man T-Dog, the African woman Jacqui, an older woman Carol, her daughter Sophie and her husband Ed (the man gave Phoenix a bad vibe) and the one who thought he was the boss, Shane (another who gave Phoenix a bad feeling).

* * *

Later that night while the others sat around the fire, Phoenix moved her truck to the far side of camp, adjacent to another older truck and motorcycle, she was told they belonged to the Dixon Brothers, Merle and Daryl.

She put up her specially made tent that sat in the bed of her truck, aired up her mattress and sat on her tailgate cleaning her weapons. She looked back towards the group, Titan was still where he had been since earlier that day, curled up next to Carl and Sophia. She remembered her earlier conversation with Lori about Titan.

_"__Is he okay with kids?" Lori says motioning to Titan who had an intimidating muzzle on._

_"__Oh, yeah. The muzzle is just a precaution against walkers. See, I altered it so he can still bark, but he can't bite, and the shield is to protect his eyes."_

_"__Okay, I'm sorry to jump to conclusions."_

_"__It's alright. Times like these, you can never be too cautious Lori."_

Phoenix smiled at the memory, Lori was a good woman and her husband was one that she instantly trusted, and she trusted very few. She pulled out her rifle and set about cleaning it, then her two Glocks and finally cleaned then sharpened her two Kukris and two hunting knives.

Shortly after she had finished the group turned in for the night, they all knew that tomorrow was gonna be a rough one when Daryl found out his brother was left behind.

* * *

The next morning Phoenix woke up a little before dawn. She set about stretching and then getting dressed, and brushing out her long hair. She jumped down from the truck and lifted Titan out setting him on the ground. Everyone had woken up by now and he immediately ran to the kids side. It made her smile, knowing they were under his protection and he wouldn't let anything happen to them.

She walked over and stood next to Glenn, his face was grim and she swore she saw tears in his eyes as he watched the men tear into his precious Challenger. "Look at 'em." He said to her. "Vultures. Yeah, go on, strip it clean."

"Generators need every drop of fuel they can get." Dale said as he walked by carrying a gas can. "Got no power without it. Sorry, Glenn." The old man chuckled as he patted the sullen kid's shoulder.

Rick walked up to the two, Glenn turned to him, "Thought I'd get to drive it at least a few more days."

"Maybe we'll get to steal another one someday." Rick tells him smiling, he pats the kid on the back, nodding at Phoenix which she returns before he walks away.

Within several minutes the group hears the two kids scream and Titan's barking. Phoenix grabs her bow immediately taking off through the woods, Shane, Glenn, Jim and Rick hot on her heels. The two kids run out of the woods towards their mothers, the others push forward past them coming into a small clearing to find a walker tearing into a fresh deer, three arrows already in it.

The walker stands up as it notices their presence, it growls advancing on Rick who smacks it in the head with a stick. Shane and Glenn knock it to the ground and the men converge on it, each pummeling it in turn. Phoenix stands back, her bow at the ready incase more show up. Dale strikes the fatal blow, decapitating the walker with his axe.

"It's the first one we've had up here. They never come this far up the mountain." Dale says breathing heavily.

"Well, they're running out of food in the city, that's what." Jim says.

A branch breaks behind Jim, he turns holding up his pitchfork, the others readying their weapons. A man steps out from behind a rock outcropping, carrying a crossbow.

Daryl Dixon.

Everyone calms down, lowering their weapons, but now agitated at the coming confrontation.

"Son of a bitch!" He says as he approaches the deer, its throat now missing from the walker. "That's my deer!" He looks up at Phoenix, then quickly looks away. But to her it felt like he memorized everything about her in that split second.

"Look at it. All gnawed on by this… filthy (kick) disease-bearing (kick) motherless (kick) poxy bastard."

"Calm down, son. That's not helping." Dale says gently.

Daryl immediately steps towards him, "What do you know bout it, old man?" Shane raises the length of his rifle placing it between the two men, but Daryl ignores it. "Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to "On Golden Pond"?" He turns back to the deer pulling out his arrows. "I've been trackin' this deer for miles. Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison." He pulls out his large Bowie knife from his right hip sheath. "What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?" He motions to the open neck.

"I would not risk that." Shane says.

Daryl sighs, "That's a damn shame. I got some squirrel—bout a dozen or so. That'll have to do."

A snapping sound is heard, they all look down at the walkers severed head that still moves on the ground, its gnashing teeth still biting at the air. Andrea and Amy stand behind the group, they get skittish at the sight of the head, turning back to camp.

Daryl steps forward, "Come on, people. What the hell?"

Phoenix steps up taking the shot before he can, hitting the walker straight through the right eye. "It's gotta be the brain," she says as Daryl lowers his crossbow, giving her a raised eyebrow, he was slightly impressed with the new girl, not that he'd say that out loud. She grabs her arrow and without hesitation pulls it out of the head, then walks back to camp.

"Don't y'all know nothing?" Daryl clears his throat uncomfortably as he heads towards the camp as well.

Everyone else is crowded around the RV as Daryl walks back to camp yelling for his brother. He notices their wary glances towards him as he walks into the camp which is nothing new, they have always looked at him that way. He stops by the fire, "Merle! Merle! Git yer ugly ass out here! I got us some squirrel! Let's stew 'em up."

Shane approaches setting his gun down in the back of his Jeep, "Daryl, just slow up a bit. I need to talk to you."

Phoenix leans against the front of the RV as Daryl turns to face Shane. "About what?" Daryl asks.

"About Merle…" Shane says walking past him, then turning around. "There was a—there was a problem in Atlanta."

Daryl looks around at the group surrounding him a strange look filling his face as he bites the inside of his cheek, "He dead?"

"We're not sure." Shane says.

Daryl whirls around putting his back to Phoenix, "He either is or he ain't!"

"No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it." Rick says stepping up to Daryl.

"Who are you?" Daryl snaps.

"Rick Grimes."

"Rick Grimes." Daryl scoffs condescendingly mocking the man, "You got somethin' you wanna tell me?"

"Your brother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there."

Phoenix feels bad at the sight of the man's face, she then notices T-Dog has just entered the camp carrying firewood, he notices the confrontation going on. He looks to her and she shakes her head advising him not to get involved.

Daryl turns away from Rick, rubbing his hand over his eyes, "Hold on. Let me process this." He turns back around, "Yer sayin' you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there?!"

Phoenix was sure the veins in Daryl's neck were about to burst, she couldn't blame him though, she'd react the same for her family. Merle may have been a loose cannon, but he's family and family is all Daryl has left in this world.

"Yeah." Rick says sighing.

Phoenix sees Daryl's jaw clench as he breaths heavily, she knows he's gonna swing at Rick, hell it's what she would do herself. Sure enough Daryl tosses the string of squirrels at Rick, but before he can charge him, Shane slams his shoulder into Daryl knocking him down.

T-dog drops the wood rushing over as he sees Daryl reaching to his side, "Hey! Watch the knife."

Daryl pulls his hunting knife from its sheath, standing up he faces Rick. He swings at Rick, missing. Then again but Rick grabs his arm wielding the knife holding him still. Phoenix takes her opening and immediately locks Daryl in a choke hold.

"Okay. Okay, Daryl. Calm." She says softly into his ear.

Daryl struggles against her, but it's no use she won't budge. If it had been anyone but him, he'd have been impressed that a girl could hold a man like that. But since it is him, he's even more pissed that a woman is holding him back.

Rick takes Daryl's knife, putting it in his waistband.

"You'd best let me go!"

"Nah, I think it's better if I don't." She says as she wrestles him to the ground, sitting him down she kneels behind him.

"Choke hold's illegal." He grunts out.

"You can file a complaint," Shane quips from his position by the motorhome. The sight of this woman taking Daryl down is amusing to him, and slightly arousing. Maybe he'd have a go at her now that Lori was off limits to him.

"Come on, man. We can keep this up all day," Phoenix tells the struggling hunter.

Rick kneels down in front of the two, "I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that?" Daryl doesn't answer, Rick presses, "Do you think we can manage that?"

Rick nods to Phoenix who lets Daryl go and backs up a few feet. The man's eyes meet hers as he glares a hole through her, she returns it icily.

"What I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not work and play well with others." Rick tells him.

"It's not Rick's fault." T-dog says stepping up. "I had the key. I dropped it."

"You couldn't pick it up?" Daryl snaps.

"Well, I dropped it in a drain."

Daryl's head drops, he grunts as he pushes himself up to his feet. He walks past T-dog tossing a handful of dirt at his feet. "If it's supposed to make me feel better, it don't."

"Well, maybe this will." T-dog says causing Daryl to pause. "Look, I chained the door to the roof—so the geeks couldn't get at him—with a padlock."

"It's gotta count for something." Rick says making Daryl turn to him.

Daryl sniffs, wiping his face trying to hide the tears, "Hell with all y'all!" Pain and despair lace his voice. "Just tell me where he is so's I can go get him."

"He'll show you." Lori's voice chimes in from the door of the motorhome. "Isn't that right?" Her tone is accusatory as she looks to her husband.

Rick nods looking around, "I'm going back."

Lori shakes her head going into the RV, Daryl walks off to his tent, Phoenix nods as Rick looks to her silently asking for her help. Rick then heads to his tent, putting his uniform back on.

* * *

Phoenix is standing by the back of her truck getting her things ready. She can feel eyes burning into her back, she doesn't have to turn around to know it's Daryl. She can't blame him, it's certainly a masculinity crusher to have a woman lock you in a choke hold that you couldn't get out of. She knows the two of them won't be able to work together until the score is settled, she realizes there is only one thing to do. She walks over to the tent where Daryl disappeared into, stepping inside.

"What the hell do you want?!" He growls as he turns to find her standing there, almost like she knew he was thinking about her.

"Take yer shot." She says calmly, placing her hands behind her back.

Daryl knew what she was doing, trying to wipe the slate clean. Without thinking he clocked her in the left eye sending her to the ground. He stepped forward holding out his hand, she didn't hesitate to take it and he hauled her up.

"Now we're even." She stated.

Daryl nodded curtly turning back to his bow, her voice caught him as she stepped out of the tent. "For whatever it's worth, I tried to go back for him, alone. I knew the others wouldn't understand."

"You stupid?" He scoffed not looking up.

"No. Just knew it was the right thang to do."

Daryl heard her walk away, he had to admit, she impressed him in several ways. She could shoot, take a hit like a man, she had a hell of a choke hold, and she was a country girl. That in itself was enough for Daryl. The look she had gave him earlier when she saw him cry wasn't one of pity, but of pride and admiration, for his loyalty to his brother.

He stepped out of his tent, spotting her at the back of her truck, he took a longer look. She wasn't short, maybe around 5'4". He'd guess around 120 lbs., fit, toned muscles. To him she looked like one of them models, but her personality was more like the girl-next-door. Her dark brown hair shimmered in the sun, giving off hints of red. It was long, hanging all the way down, just brushing the top of her ass. It was the kind of hair you imagine yourself wrapping your hand in while you fucked her senseless from behind. She had it pulled back into a braid and it was hanging over her right shoulder. Her eyes, he'd noticed when she was standing in front of him were a bright shade of Cerulean blue, reminded him of the ocean. They were currently hid behind a pair of black sunglasses.

Her outfit which was solid black, left no curve to the imagination, it was skintight from her neck to her feet. She had on a long sleeved shirt with a small scoop neck just barely reaching the bottom of her long neck. Her pants were like a second skin, hell he could put a quarter in her back pocket and tell if it was heads or tails. They had pockets like a pair of jeans. The entire expanse of the outfit was encased in quarter inch thick plates, he'd have to ask her about those.

Her boots made him laugh at first, wondering how she did anything in them. They were leather, reached to just below her knees and had a thick 4" heel on them. But damn did they make her ass and legs look good. Hell her whole outfit complimented her.

Then she put on her gun holsters, strapped like a belt around her waist and around each thigh, her Glocks resting comfortably at her sides. On the back of the holster were four extra clips placed so all she had to do was slide the guns right back onto them. On her back were two custom made Kukris, the blades made out of a black metal. A sniper rifle sat in her hands, he knew by looking it was military issue, and would be quiet as a snowfall. She tossed the strap of it over her head and let it rest between the two blades on her back. She grabbed two 7" long hunting knives and slid them into two holsters inside her boots on the outer rim. Finally she grabbed her Infinity Pro-comp compound bow, with a housing for 6 extra arrows. He noticed all of her weapons were black, blades and all. It was smart, no glare or reflection to give away a position.

When she turned towards him heading to the van Daryl damn near came in his pants. She looked like pure sex walking to him. That outfit and those weapons, this woman was gonna be a hell of a lot of trouble for him. He felt like he'd just jumped into the deep end of the pool and drowning was not an option.

Daryl didn't have a lot of experience with women, sure he had plenty of practice in the kissing department, but further than that, zip. Not that it was by choice. Every girl he brought around and even considered wanting to have sex with, for some reason or another, would always gravitate to his brother. He couldn't understand why, Merle treated women like shit, and yet they kept coming back for more. He always told Daryl, "Women are only good for one thing. You use 'em and you dump 'em."

Merle would use 'em, abuse 'em and trash 'em, but they always came back. "You treat a girl good little brother and she'll walk all over ya, you treat her like shit and she'll worship ya." And as stupid as that sounded to Daryl, it really was true, at least as far as he saw in Merle's case.

His family problems didn't help his case neither. Everyone in town knew his father was a drunk and beat him, so most of the girls in town pitied him and that was not what he needed. He didn't need sympathy, or to be judged, he simply wanted someone who understood.

Looking at Phoenix he knew she'd sooner beat Merle's ass, which she probably could, than even consider hooking up with him. But what did that matter? A beautiful woman like her, no matter how much like him she was, would never give Daryl Dixon a second glance.

Phoenix came up to Rick by the fire as Shane was spouting off about Merle. "Why would you risk your life for a douche bag like Merle Dixon?"

Daryl stood up from his place next to the fire, "Hey, choose yer words more carefully."

"Ah, no, I did. Douche bag's what I meant." Shane says eyeing Daryl. "Merle Dixon—the guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst."

"Shane, shut up. Your opinion of him doesn't matter. He's a human being just like us, and he doesn't deserve to die like a wounded animal. He deserves to die on his terms, not ours. To die how he chooses, not how we left him."

Again Daryl was impressed, this woman didn't even know his brother, and here she was going toe-to-toe with Shane defending him.

Rick stepped in between them before it got out of hand, "What he would or wouldn't do doesn't interest me. I can't let a man die of thirst—me. Thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap. That's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being."

"So you and Daryl, that's your big plan?" Lori asks from beside the fire pit.

"And Phoenix." He looks to the woman hopeful, she nods confirming she's in, then Rick looks over to Glenn, who sighs, "Oh, come on."

"You know the way. You've been there before—in and out, no problem. You said so yourself."

Glenn takes off his hat, running a hand over his hair as Rick continues. "It's not fair of me to ask—I know that—but I'd feel a lot better with you and Phoenix along. I know she would too."

Shane sighs, "That's just great. Now you're gonna risk four people, huh?"

Phoenix could understand Shane's hesitation, but he was far-sighted to the big picture.

"Five." T-Dog says.

Daryl huffs, "My day just gets better and better, don't it?"

"You see anybody else here stepping up to save your brother's cracker ass?" T-Dog scoffs.

"Why you?" Daryl asks.

"You wouldn't even begin to understand. You don't speak my language."

"That's five." Dale says.

"It's not just five." Shane says irritated. "You're putting every single one of us at risk. Just know that, Rick. Come on, you saw that walker. It was here. It was in camp. They're moving out of the cities. They come back, we need every able body we've got. We need 'em here. We need 'em to protect camp."

"It seems to me what you really need most here are more guns." Rick says.

"Right, the guns." Glenn says catching on.

"Wait. What guns?" Shane asks.

"Six shotguns, two high-powered rifles, over a dozen handguns. I cleaned out the cage back at the station before I left. I dropped the bag in Atlanta when I got swarmed. It's just sitting there on the street, waiting to be picked up."

"Ammo?" Shane wonders.

"700 rounds, assorted."

"You went through hell to find us." Lori tells him with wide eyes. "You just got here and you're gonna turn around and leave?"

"Dad, I-I don't want you to go." Carl says looking up at his father.

Rick turns around to face his family, a look of irritation on his face. His wife pleads with him, "To hell with the guns. Shane is right. Merle Dixon. He's not worth one of your lives even with guns thrown in." She stands up as Rick walks over in front of her. "Tell me. Make me understand."

"I owe a debt to a man I met and his little boy. Lori, if they hadn't taken me in, I'd have died. It's because of them that I made it back to you at all. They said they'd follow me to Atlanta. They'll walk into the same trap I did if I don't warn him."

"What's stopping you?"

Rick sighs, "The walkie-talkie, the one in the bag I dropped. He's got the other one. Our plan was to connect when they got closer."

"These are our walkies?" Shane asks sitting on a log.

"Yeah."

"So use the CB. What's wrong with that?" Andrea asks him.

"The CB's fine. It's the walkies that suck to crap—date back to the '70's, don't match any other bandwidth—not even the scanners in our cars." Shane educates everyone.

Rick looks desperately at his wife, "I need that bag." He steps around her kneeling down to his son, "Okay?"

The boy nods, Rick smiles, "Alright." He ruffles Carl's hair and then stands up.

The five of them set about getting ready, Phoenix sets her bow and rifle in the back of the van, turning back when she hears her name. She finds Lori motioning her over to the side.

"Listen I… Rick trusts you so… I am too… And I…"

Phoenix gives a small smile to the woman stumbling over her words. "I'll bring him back to you Lori. I'll bring all of them back."

Lori smiles, she watches the other younger woman kneel down next to Carl, who is playing with Titan. "Hey Carl, I need you to do me a favor, okay. Can you take care of Titan for me till I get back? He really likes you."

The boy smiles widely, nodding his head quickly.

"Alright, I'm trusting you." Phoenix ruffles the boy's hair before she heads back to the van.

"Phoenix."

The woman turns back to the mother and son, "You bring yourself back too, you hear."

She gives a smile, "Of course."

While Rick and T-Dog are bargaining with Dale to use his bolt cutters, Glenn is in the drivers seat of the van ready to go. Daryl is in the back pacing, he stops, holding out a hand to Phoenix as she approaches the back. She grasps it and he helps her into the back of the van. They share a mutual courteous nod.

Daryl gets impatient, which no one could blame him right now. He steps his foot over Glenn and stomps on the horn. "Come on. Let's go."

Rick and T-Dog load up and Daryl shuts the back door as Glenn starts down the road. Phoenix sits in the back next to T-Dog, Daryl across from the two.

"He better be okay. It's my only word on the matter." Daryl says staring at T-Dog.

"I told you the geeks can't get at him. The only thing that's gonna get through that door is us."

Daryl's attention turns to Phoenix, he decides to ask her about the outfit. She smiles, "Reinforced Kevlar plates." Her answer surprises him, why and how were his next two questions. "For when the walkers decide to take a bite. They'll sooner break their teeth before piercing my skin. And because my brother is in the military and spoils me."

The men nod, now understanding a little more about the mysterious woman before them.

Glenn puts the van in park, turning to the others, "We walk from here."

The five pile out of the van, Phoenix bringing up the rear with her bow loaded and drawn. The make their way from the train tracks into the city. They climb through an opening in the fence, stopping under an overpass.

Rick abruptly stops Phoenix yanking off her sunglasses, "What the hell happened to your eye?" He glanced to Daryl giving him a murderous glare.

Phoenix calmly steps in front of Daryl redirecting Rick's glare, "A mutual understanding."

Rick sighs and with a nod he hands her glasses back which she places on. He then turns back to the others, "Merle first or guns?"

"Merle!" Daryl snaps, "We ain't even havin' this conversation."

"We are." Rick says emphatically, turning to Glenn. "You know the geography. It's your call."

"Merle's closest. The guns would mean doubling back. Merle first." Glenn says as the five jog forward to their destination.

* * *

They enter the lobby of the building where Merle was left, Rick taking point. He stops motioning back to Daryl as he hears shuffling footsteps ahead. A female walker comes into view a second later and Daryl moves forward stopping in front of the walker.

"Damn. You are one ugly skank." He says raising his bow and nailing it between the eyes with a bolt. He steps over, pulling out the arrow and wiping it off on his pant leg.

They run up the stairs to the roof, the door is still chained. T-Dog steps up with the bolt cutters and snaps the lock off. Daryl kicks the door open and rushes out first, "Merle! Merle!"

The five of them rush out over the catwalk and find nothing. Merle is nowhere to be seen. But what they do find makes them cringe in disgust.

"No! No!" Daryl screams as he looks up at T-Dog and the rest. "No!" He looks down at the bloody saw on the roof, then Merle's severed hand and the bloody cuff still latched and hanging from the piece of steel. "No! No!"


	3. Vatos

**Disclaimer - I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

Thank you to all of you who have followed or favored myself and my story. So even though I didn't get any more reviews, I decided it was time for another chapter, so enjoy.

* * *

Daryl is barely containing his anger as he stares at his brother's severed hand. He roars and whips around aiming his crossbow in T-Dog's face.

Rick lifts his gun to Daryl's head at the same moment. "I won't hesitate. I don't care if every walker in the city hears it." Rick tells him calmly.

Daryl's mouth twitches and he closes his eyes for a moment before he lowers the bow. Rick uncocks the gun and lowers it as well.

"You, got a do-rag or somethin'?" Daryl asks T-Dog softly, his rage subsiding for the moment.

"Here Dixon, use mine." Phoenix says from behind him as she unties her black bandana from around her neck and hands it to him.

He takes it giving her a small nod of thanks as he sets his crossbow down and kneels on the roof. He sighs as he lays the bandana down and picks up Merle's hand, "I guess the saw blade was too dull for the handcuffs." He studies the hand, "Ain't that a bitch." Then he sets it down and wraps it in the cloth. He motions Glenn over and unzips his backpack, placing the severed hand inside earning a sickening grimace from the young kid.

"He must of used a tourniquet—maybe his belt." He picks up his crossbow, "Be much more blood if he didn't."

Phoenix follows behind Daryl as he tracks the blood drops across the roof. Rick and Glenn follow as T-Dog rounds up Dale's tools.

Daryl, Phoenix and Rick have their weapons up as they move inside another door and down a flight of stairs. "Merle? You in here?" Daryl yells as they descend the staircase.

A whistle is heard as Phoenix embeds a bolt in the head of a walker. She steps over pulling it out and nodding to Daryl who turns back to the hallway, she following his lead. They come into a receptionist area to find two dead walkers lying on the floor.

"Had enough in him to take out these two sumbitches… One handed." Daryl says, pride filling his voice. He notices a wrench on the floor near one walker, that must have been Merle's weapon of choice. He sets his crossbow down, "Toughest asshole I ever met, my brother." He resets the draw, "Feed him a hammer, he'd crap out nails." He says with admiration as he reloads the bow.

"Any man can pass out from blood loss, no matter how tough he is." Rick says following behind Phoenix who has taken point, following the blood tracks. She tracks it into a kitchen, Daryl right behind her yelling, "Merle!"

"We're not alone here." Rick reminds him. "Remember?"

"Screw that." Daryl says defiantly. "He could be bleeding out. You said so yourself."

"I don't think so," Phoenix tells them moving forward, she notices 4 emergency Sterno burners on, the flames flickering. There's blood on the side of the stove, along with a belt and an iron steak plate for grilling hamburgers sitting next to them. The bottom is covered with pieces of charred flesh.

Phoenix picks up the plate, Glenn asks her, "What's that burned stuff?"

"Skin. He cauterized the stump." She says with mild admiration.

Daryl catches her eye, "Told you he was tough. Nobody can kill Merle, but Merle."

"Don't take that on faith. He's lost a lot of blood." Rick says.

"Yeah?" Daryl quips moving forward. "Didn't stop him from busting out of this death trap."

They follow him over to a busted out window. "He left the building?" Glenn asks. "Why the hell would he do that?"

"Why wouldn't he?" Daryl says looking out the window. "He's out there alone as far as he knows, doing what he's got to do. Surviving."

Rick looks out of the window, seeing a bloody rag on the sill below.

"You call that surviving?" T-Dog asks. "Just wandering out in the streets, maybe passing out? What are his odds out there?"

"No worse than being handcuffed and left to rot by you sorry pricks." Daryl eyes Rick, "You couldn't kill him. Ain't so worried about some dumb dead bastard."

"What about 1,000 dumb dead bastards?" Rick retorts. "Different story?"

"Why don't you take a tally? Do what you want. I'ma go git him." Daryl says heading for the window.

"Daryl, wait." Rick says placing his hand on the redneck's chest and pushing him back.

"Git yer hands off me! You can't stop me."

"I don't blame you. He's family, I get that. I went through hell to find mine. I know exactly how you feel. He can't get far with that injury. We could help you check a few blocks around but only if we keep a level head."

Daryl pauses a moment, "I could do that."

Rick looks to the rest of them, T-Dog shakes his head, "Only if we get those guns first. I'm not strolling the streets of Atlanta with just my good intentions, okay?"

They move into one of the offices, Glenn has a plan he's trying to show them using a few supplies from a desk.

"You're not doing this alone." Rick tells the kid.

"Even I think it's a bad idea and I don't even like you much." Daryl snarks before looking over at Phoenix. She has her glasses sitting on top of her head. Her left eye is black and blue, all the way to her cheekbone, and he can see a couple popped blood vessels in the white of her eye. He didn't think he'd hit her that hard. He knew it was a mutual agreement, but he still felt a little bad… But only a little.

"It's a good idea, okay, if you just hear me out." Rick kneels down next to the diagram Glenn set up. "If we go out there in a group, we're slow, drawing attention. If I'm alone, I can move fast. Look."

They all look down at the diagram of the streets Glenn has drawn on the floor with a marker. "That's the tank, five blocks from where we are now. That's the bag of guns. Here's the alley I dragged you into when we first met. That's where Daryl, Phoenix and I will go."

"Why us?" Daryl asks looking over at the woman sitting on the desk across from him.

"Your bows are quieter than his gun." Glenn says, "While Daryl and Phoenix wait here in the alley, I run up the street, grab the bag."

"But you got us elsewhere?" Rick asks of him and T-Dog.

"You and T-Dog, right. You'll be in this alley here."

"Two blocks away? Why?" Rick asks.

"I may not be able to come back the same way. Walkers might cut me off. If that happens, I won't go back to Daryl and Phoenix. I'll go forward instead, all the way around to that alley where you guys are. Whichever direction I go, I got you in both places to cover me. Afterwards we'll all meet back here."

"Hey, kid, what'd you do before all this?" Daryl wonders.

"Delivered pizzas. Why?" Glenn asks.

They all nod, so that's how he knew all the best routes, delivery guys know every side road and alley in town.

* * *

The five split up, Phoenix, Glenn and Daryl climbing down the fire escape into the alley. Rick and T-Dog moving to the alley up the street.

Daryl cocks his bow along with Phoenix, smirking at the kid as he takes off his jacket. "You got some balls for a Chinaman."

"I'm Korean."

"Whatever." Daryl says loading his bow as the kid takes off out into the street. He's behind a dumpster closest to the wall, Phoenix is crouched in front of him close enough that he can smell the almond mint coming off her hair. He couldn't fathom how she stayed so clean and smelled so good in these times. He looked down at his dirty self, he couldn't imagine how he looked to her, not that he cared in the least.

Things were quiet as they waited for Glenn to come back, till she broke the silence whispering, "They would you know."

"Would what?" He whispered back.

"Have came back. If it was you up there on the roof. They'd have came back for you."

"How do you know?" Daryl scoffs.

"Cause they know they need you. Without you they'd all starve." Daryl thought about her words. He had been wondering that earlier in camp when everyone was adamant about not going after Merle, he was curious what they'd do if it was him instead.

"Besides, every group needs a crazy redneck." Phoenix said grinning, earning a small grin from him.

"Yeah, now they got two." He quipped nudging her with his knee.

They fell into a silence again. "How did you know? That I was thinkin' that."

She smiled, "I saw yer face earlier at camp. I'm good at readin' people."

He nodded then bit out a short, "Thanks."

"Welcome." She bit back.

Suddenly they heard footsteps from behind them. They both step out from behind the dumpster Phoenix guarding Daryl's back, bows up aiming at a young Hispanic kid.

"Whoa, don't shoot me!" The kid yells. "What do you want?"

"I'm lookin' for my brother. He's hurt real bad. You seen him?" Daryl asks the kid.

"Ayudame!" The kid yells.

"Shut up!" Daryl snaps. "Yer gonna bring the geeks down on us. Answer me." The kid refuses to answer, Phoenix snaps yelling over her shoulder, "Answer him!"

"Ayudame! Ayudame! Ayudame!"

Daryl smacks the kid in the mouth with the butt of his crossbow, knocking him down. The kid is still screaming so Daryl covers his mouth with his hand. "Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up."

Phoenix turns her back to the street for a split second to check on Daryl, which proves to be a fatal mistake. Two Vatos come up behind her, slamming her over the head with a metal pipe. She starts to stand back up when one of them co-cocks her in the mouth.

"Dixon!"

Daryl starts to turn at her scream when someone kicks him in the back, knocking him to the ground. The two Vatos take turns kicking Daryl over and over.

Glenn runs in to find the two guys kicking Daryl, they turn running towards him. "That's it. That's the bag, Vato. Take it! Take it!"

They attack Glenn, punching him in the face and knocking him to the ground, and pelting him with a pipe.

Daryl sits up aiming his bow and shoots a bolt into one of the men's ass cheeks. The man grabs his ass howling in pain.

Phoenix sits up clutching her head, she hears a car approach, she shakes her head as she hears Glenn screaming, "Get off me! Get off me! Daryl! Nix! Daryl!" She focuses her vision as best she can and sees Glenn being drug out of the alley and into a car by two men.

Daryl jumps up on the gate, "Come back here! You sumbitches!"

Walkers converge on them as Daryl pulls the gate shut, locking it. He grabs Phoenix's arm hauling her to her feet. "You aight?!"

She nods, still dizzy and feeling nauseous. "Oh, I so have a concussion."

Daryl leaves her, quickly grabbing the kid as he gets up to run, Rick and T-Dog come running down the back of the alley towards them. Daryl shoves the kid up against the wall, then charges him ready to beat the kid to a pulp.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop it." Rick yells standing between the two, shoving Daryl back.

"I'm gonna kick yer nuts up in yer throat!" Daryl screams.

"Let me go." The kid says.

"Chill out." T-Dog tells him shoving him against the wall.

"They took Glenn. That little bastard and his little bastard homie friends. I'm gonna stomp yer ass!" Daryl says pointing his finger at the kid, fighting to get past Rick.

"Guys! Guys! We're cut off!" T-Dog says motioning to the gate covered in walkers.

"Get to the lab. Go." Rick hollers.

T-Dog takes off running, dragging the kid behind him. Rick grabs the bag of guns and his hat that Glenn retrieved.

"Come on. Damn, let's go." Daryl says putting Phoenix's arm around his shoulders, despite her protests not to touch her.

* * *

They get back up to the lab where they left from, Daryl sits her down on the top of a desk. He stays close despite her murderous glare, she swaying and he's sure she may fall or pass out. She reaches up and touches a spot on her forehead over her right eye, her fingers come back bloody.

"Those men you were with, we need to know where they went." Rick asks the kid.

"I ain't telling you nothing."

"Jesus, man. What the hell happened back there?" T-Dog asks.

"I told you, this little turd and his douche bag friends came out of nowhere and jumped us."

"Man, you're the one who jumped me, puto." The kid smarts off. "Screaming about trying to find his brother like it's my damn fault."

"They took Glenn. Could have taken Merle too." Phoenix says softly, holding her head.

"Merle? What kind of hick name is that? I wouldn't name my dog Merle."

Daryl moves to kick the kid in the face but Rick holds him back. "Damn it, Daryl. Back off."

Phoenix snorts of a breath of air, "Enough of this shit." She stands up shakily, walking over to Glenn's backpack and pulling out her black bandana. "You want to see what happened to the last guy that pissed him off?" She unwraps Merle's hand and tosses it in the kid's lap.

He freaks out, standing up outta the chair, tossing it off him and scrambling away on the floor. Phoenix moves forward grabbing the kid by the front of his shirt, "Maybe he'll start with the feet this time!" She shoves him away from her and stands back up, stumbling backwards and leaning against the desk.

Daryl smirks impressed, that was clever, yeah she was a lot like him. His attention turned to the kid, sitting on the floor, cowering, he was clearly shaken now.

Rick leans down to the kid, "The men you were with took our friend. All we want to do is talk to them, see if we can work something out."

* * *

The kid takes them to abandoned warehouse area, Rick studies the front entrance. "You sure you're up for this?" Rick asks T-Dog and Phoenix, looking pointedly at the injured woman, who nods placing her sunglasses back over her eyes, the sunlight killing her head.

T-Dog grabs the bag and the two of them head to their post. Daryl looks at the kid as they pass, "One wrong move and you get an arrow in the ass. Just so you know."

"G's gonna take that arrow out of my ass and shove it up yours. Just so you know."

Phoenix shakes her head as she walks away, that boy is not bright at all, and if Daryl didn't beat him to death she'd be amazed. She watches from her spot next to T-Dog as the door opens and a man walks out.

"You okay man?"

"They gonna cut off my feet."

"Cops do that?" The man says eyeing Rick.

"Not him. This redneck puto here. He cut off some dude's hand, man. The crazy chica showed it to me."

Phoenix tunes out the conversation, focusing on clearing her head, waiting for the signal from Rick. She sees Rick turn his head towards them, the rest of the Vatos looking up to the top of the building where Phoenix and T-Dog stand, their rifles trained on the leader. The leader yells out and from above them on the roof stands two men, Glenn tied up between them, his mouth duct-taped.

The Vatos retreat back inside and the two meet up back on the ground with the others.

* * *

They head to a nearby building to sort things out. Rick sets the bag down on the desk, rifling through it.

"Them guns are worth more than gold. Gold won't protect yer family or put food on the table. You willing to give that up for that kid?" Daryl asks.

"If I knew we'd get Glenn back, I might agree." T-Dog says. "But you think that Vato across the way is just gonna hand him over?"

"You calling G a liar?" The kid smarts off.

"Are you a part of this? You want to hold on to yer teeth?" Daryl says slapping the kid in the head.

"Question is, do you trust that man's word?" T-Dog asks looking to Rick.

Daryl scoffs, "No, question is what are you willing to bet on it? Could be more than them guns. Could be yer life. Glenn worth that to you?"

"What life I have I owe to him. I was nobody to Glenn, just some idiot stuck in a tank. He could have walked away, but he didn't. Neither will I." Rick confesses.

"So yer gonna hand the guns over?" Daryl asks.

"I didn't say that." Rick tells him. "There's nothing keeping you three here. You should get out, head back to camp."

"And tell your family what?" T-Dog says rubbing his head.

"I promised Lori I'd bring you back, I'd bring you all back. I don't break my promises," Phoenix says standing up and grabbing her rifle. Daryl nods as well grabbing a shotgun, along with T-Dog.

The kid stands up, "Come on, this is nuts." Daryl shoves the kid back, the kid rubs his face, "Just do like G says."

They gag the kid and tie his hands behind his back. Daryl escorts him at the tip of his shotgun back to the Vatos hideout. The door opens and Daryl shoves the kid in first, Phoenix, Rick and T-Dog following behind.

After a lengthy discussion about whose guns they were and an interruption from one of the men's grandmothers, she escorts the group further inside. What greets their eyes is elderly people everywhere, the Vatos caring for them. They enter the auditorium and find Glenn standing untied and unharmed next to a man in a wheelchair.

After a long chat with the leader, the group finds out that the staff of the home ran out leaving all the elderly to fend for themselves. Rick comes to realize these men aren't the bad guys. He gives them a shotgun, a rifle and a few handguns with ammo. The group then takes their leave.

"Admit it, you only came back to Atlanta for the hat." Glenn tells Rick.

"Don't tell anybody."

"You've given away half our guns and ammo." Daryl says.

"Not nearly half."

"For what? Bunch of old farts who gonna die off momentarily anyhow? Seriously, how long you think they got?" Daryl quips.

"How long do any of us?" Phoenix mentions as they round a bus to find the van missing.

"Oh my God." Glenn utters.

Daryl is dumbfounded, "Where the hell's our van?"

"We left it right there. Who would take it?" Glenn wonders.

"Merle." Rick says with venom.

"He's gonna be takin' some vengeance back to camp." Daryl tells them all.

They hustle together, making their way back to camp. Daryl in front and Phoenix bringing up the rear, both with bows aimed and ready. Its well after dark when they come upon the camp, the first they hear is screaming, then the growling of walkers, a lot of them. The five take aim as they exit the woods, taking out every walker in their path. The rest of the group is huddled in front of the RV, where the walkers have them cornered. After several minutes the last walker is taken down. Rick embraces Lori and Carl, the others look around breathing heavily, adrenaline flowing through them. Phoenix kneels down, hugging Titan who is faithfully beside the kids.

Hysterical wailing breaks out, the group turns to Andrea, huddled over her sister's now dead body. Phoenix hears Jim speak softly his words making her shiver and incredibly nauseous, "Now I remember my dream. Why I dug all those holes."


	4. Wildfire

**Disclaimer - I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

Thank you to all of you who have followed or favored myself and my story. So even though I didn't get any more reviews, I decided it was time for another chapter, so enjoy.

* * *

The next morning is a solemn one for the entire camp. But none more so than Andrea, who hasn't left her sisters side since she fell to walkers during the night. It was setting everyone on edge, knowing she had been bitten and it was only a matter of time before she turned.

Phoenix was up before dawn as usual, mostly because with her concussion she wasn't supposed to sleep for 12 hours, and by then it was morning so she decided to fore go sleep.

She snuck quietly into the RV grabbing what she was looking for and stepping back outside. She knelt next to the woman, taking her free hand and placing her hand-gun in it. Andrea slowly looks up at the woman, they don't know one another but somehow Phoenix knew what Andrea was doing and was willing to help.

The two shared a small grim smile before Phoenix headed back to her truck. No one else in the camp was awake except for Daryl and he was already out hunting. Phoenix grabbed a towel, soap, razor and conditioner, then headed down to the quarry with her bow.

* * *

Daryl had been out hunting since an hour before dawn, he was making his way around the top ridge of the quarry when an interesting sight caught his eye. Phoenix, by herself, standing below at the waters edge. He knew she hadn't slept at all, he was restless and couldn't sleep himself, so he set about cleaning his bow and making some new arrows. He would glance up every now and again, watching her read a book.

He watched as she kicked off her boots, then peeled off her skintight shirt and pants. He was welcomed by the sight of a Mossy Oak camo bikini top and matching shorts that just covered her ass. The top was a bandeau halter that tied at the neck and clipped at the back, the shorts hung low on her hips, and fit like a second skin.

If that wasn't hot enough, he could now see she had several tattoos, including a full sleeve on her left arm, a half sleeve on her right and her entire back. He could see a few small ones on her right arm, abdomen, left side of her chest, both ribcages, right hip, both ankles and the tops of her feet, but he couldn't make out what they were.

He observed her as she washed her clothes and set them out on a flat rock to dry. From there she washed her hair, her body and shaved her legs and arm pits. He liked that she had no problem getting down and dirty, but still took care of herself, even in these shitty times. He was a firm believer that the better you felt, the more likely you were to fight for your life. If you didn't feel like living, chances are you wouldn't.

She gets out toweling off and then slipping her feet into a pair of worn black flip flops. She gathered her clothes and her bow, making her way back up to the camp. Halfway up the road he saw her grin, "Mornin' Dixon."

He shook his head as he made his way back to camp, he should've known she'd know he was there. Everyone in camp was saying she was the female version of him, and little by little he was starting to agree. He arrived a few minutes before her and set out helping the rest of the guys move bodies.

* * *

Phoenix walked into camp, stopping behind everyone she listened to them fighting over the fact that Andrea wouldn't let anyone come near her sister's body. She had also pulled a gun on Rick, but none of them knew how she got it out of the RV since she had been there all night.

"Y'all can't be serious. Let that girl hamstring us? The dead girl's a time bomb." Daryl tells the group.

"What do you suggest?" Rick asks him.

"Take the shot. Clean, in the brain from here. Hell, I can hit a turkey 'tween the eyes from this distance."

"No. For God's sakes, let her be." Lori says looking to the woman.

"Well who the hell gave her the gun in the first place?" Rick asks.

"I did." Phoenix states. "She knows what she's doin', leave her the hell alone." She sighs walking past the group to her truck. She could feel the groups eyes on her, not sure if it was for what she said, the fact she was in a bikini or all her tattoos.

Daryl scoffs walking away from the group, he glares as he steps past Phoenix shoving her with his shoulder. She sighs, shaking her head, that man had mood swings worse than a woman. Her clothes weren't dry just yet, so she pulled on a tight pair of dark blue jeans, a white tank top and worn brown cowboy boots. She brushed out her hair letting it dry naturally in waves.

Daryl goes over to help Morales with a body, upsetting Glenn as they try to set it on the fire. He snaps, clearly upset, saying walkers go on the fire, our people go over there by the RV.

"You reap what you sow." Daryl tells them. "Y'all left my brother for dead. You had this comin'."

Suddenly Jacqui begins yelling, shouting that Jim had been bitten. Daryl comes up demanding that Jim show them he hadn't. Jim grabbed a shovel and turned to defend himself, T-Dog sneaks up and grabs him from behind. Daryl lifts up his shirt revealing the bite wound, Jim is pleading that he's okay. They sit him down by the back of the RV and have a group meeting a few feet away.

"I say we put a pickaxe in his head and the dead girl's and be done with it." Daryl says.

"Is that what you'd want if it were you?" Shane asks looking sideways at Daryl.

"Yeah, and I'd thank you while you did it."

Dale sighs, "I hate to say it—I never thought I would—But maybe Daryl's right."

"Jim's not a monster, Dale, or some rabid dog." Rick tells him.

"I'm not suggesting—" Dale starts but Rick interrupts him, his voice full of anger, "He's sick. A sick man. We start down that road, where do we draw the line?"

"The line's pretty clear. Zero tolerance for walkers, or them to be." Daryl tells them.

"I'm with Dixon on this Rick," Phoenix says, "If it were me I'd hope y'all would put me out of my misery."

"What if we can get him help?" Rick asks looking around the circle. "I heard the CDC was working on a cure."

"I heard that too. Heard a lot of things before the world went to hell." Shane sighs.

"What if the CDC is still up and running?" Rick asks them again.

Phoenix tunes out the conversation between Rick and Shane, to her the CDC was a pipe dream, nothing to rely on. She came back as she hears Daryl yell advancing on Jim with his pickaxe, "You go lookin' for aspirin, do what you need to do. Someone needs to have some balls to take care of this damn problem!"

Rick pulls out his gun aiming it at Daryl's head, "Hey, hey, hey! We don't kill the living."

Daryl lowers the pickaxe turning to face the cop, "That's funny comin' from a man who just put a gun to my head."

Daryl drops the weapon and stalks off, Phoenix follows him, stopping at her truck. She watches as Dale shares some words with Andrea, handing her the necklace she had got for her sister for her birthday, which coincidently was today. She smiles unwrapping it and placing it around Amy's neck.

Daryl stalks by her going over to the front of the RV, he picks up another pickaxe preparing to make sure Ed doesn't come back as a walker.

Carol walks up to him, "I'll do it. He's my husband."

Daryl hands her the axe and steps back. She grips the handle, crying as she looks down at him. She swings the axe down, five times in total, seeming more relieved with each swing.

Phoenix watches Carol take out her frustrations on her husbands corpse. Years of pent up anger for the way he treated her were released with every swing. Phoenix only wished Carol could have done that while he was still alive. But at least her and Sophie were free from his wrath now, they didn't have to live in constant fear.

Her eyes drifted over to Andrea, she noticed Amy beginning to move and waited, hoping Andrea had the will do what was needed. If she didn't Phoenix's gun was at the ready. She watched as Andrea spoke to her sister, knowing she didn't understand anymore, but it was simply to make Andrea's letting go easier. She watched Andrea say her final goodbye, saw her pull out her gun and in a single gunshot, she put her sister to peace.

Phoenix saw the rest of the group look from Andrea to her, she gave them a sad smile, "Told you so."

The entire group heads up to the ridge to bury their friends and say a prayer, then they head back down to the camp. After a meeting with everyone, they decide that Rick's right, the group is gonna make for the CDC in the morning.

* * *

Around the fire that night, Dale asks Phoenix a question he's been itching to ask. "Why do you drive such a big truck? Isn't it hard to find gas for?"

She smiles, "I grew up in the country, we drove nothin' but trucks all my life. Plus if you notice when you stand next to it, yer head barely touches the hood. That means walkers can't reach me inside the cab or bed and if I hit 'em, it doesn't damage my radiator or engine. I can run them suckers over all day long."

The group chuckles. "And how do you keep it running?" Dale wonders.

"Solar panels on the roof, wired to 12 batteries inside the box in the bed of my truck. It runs off diesel which is hard to find, but easier nowadays than regular gas. I have a 40 gallon tank, I only use the gas if I absolutely need too, otherwise the whole truck runs off the sun."

The men look around, impressed to say the least. "What did you do before all this?" Glenn asks her as they had done a day earlier to him.

"I was a survivalist trainer. I taught people how to survive for cases like this. Although I will admit, walkers never even crossed my top ten when I thought about how the world would end."

"Could you teach us some stuff, to help us out?" Glenn asks eager to learn something new.

"Sure Glenn, I'd be happy too. Although the way you handled yourself in the city, I think I should be learnin' from you." Glenn's cheeks beamed red making Phoenix smile.

"How did you end up alone out here?"

Phoenix glances over at the small boy, she had to admit, he'd grown on her in the short time she'd been around him.

"Uh, well Carl, that's not really a story for kids. Maybe some other time, aight bud?"

The child smiles and nods, satisfied with her answer but now more curious than ever, as were a lot of the others.

* * *

The next morning the group packs up to leave, minus Morales and his family who declined to go with them. So the caravan pulls out, Dale leading the way in the RV, then Rick and his family in the van, the Suburban, Daryl in his truck, Phoenix in her truck, then Shane in his Jeep bringing up the rear.

Shortly after they had to pull over, the hose on the RV busted yet again. Shane and T-Dog head up the road to see if they can find another hose or something to jury-rig it. They return shortly and Dale fixes the hose with Phoenix's help. Just before they leave, Jim decides he wants to be left behind, so they honor his wishes and leave him sitting under a nice big tree.

* * *

They pull up outside of the CDC building, the entire grounds around the building are covered with rotting corpses covered in flies. The stench is almost unbearable as they head up to the building. They reach the front doors, Rick and Shane try to open them but they are locked. There doesn't seem to be anyone there. It seems they have doomed themselves by coming here. The sky is slowly fading to black as they stand around.

Suddenly walkers start coming towards them, Daryl yells alerting everyone, "Walkers!" He pierces one through the head with a bolt, he turns back to Rick, "You lead us into a graveyard!"

"He made a call." Phoenix says backing up the cop.

"It was the wrong damn call!" Daryl snaps back at her.

"Just shut up. You hear me? Shut up. Shut up!" Shane yells pushing Daryl backwards.

The group starts to head back to the vehicles when Rick stops them by hollering that the camera moved. Shane tells him its automatic, but Rick doesn't listen. He pleads to the camera as everyone tries to pull him away. Suddenly a sound stops them all, they turn back to the building as a bright light engulfs them from an opened doorway.


	5. TS-19

**Disclaimer - I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

Thank you to all of you who have followed or favored myself and my story.

**ANGEL LOVE 1728 - **I'm so relieved to know that I didn't disappoint with Phoenix. I tried to make her more of Daryl's equal, someone that he could relate to and someone who understands him.

So in lieu of the review I received, here is the final chapter of season 1.

* * *

"Daryl, Phoenix, cover the back." Shane ordered, the two hunters nodded taking the rear flanks, bows at the ready. "Close those doors," Shane said again as everyone entered the building. The two complied closing the glass doors as they came through.

A gun cocking catches everyone's attention, they turn towards the stairs to find a man holding an automatic machine gun. "Anybody infected?" He yelled, not making a move to leave his position.

"One of our group was." Rick's voice is shaking. "He didn't make it."

The man steps forward two steps, "Why are you here? What do you want?"

"A chance," Rick admits.

"That's asking an awful lot these days."

"I know."

The man looks around at their group, each one in turn. "You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission."

"We can do that."

"You got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once this door closes, it stays closed."

Four of them run out to grab packs from the vehicles, when they are safely back inside, the man turns to a panel on the wall. "Vi, seal the main entrance. Kill the power up here."

Phoenix watches the door slide shut, hissing as it locks them inside. Daryl notices she's fidgety, a worried look on her face. That alone bothers him, he's never seen her look worried, but the look on her face now is… scared? That can't be, not her.

"Hey Rayne, you aight?" He nudges her shoulder with his.

"I don't like this. I got a bad feelin' bout this place, Dixon."

* * *

The group piles into the elevator, it's a tight squeeze with them all, Phoenix's back is up against Daryl's left arm, she can feel his body heat warming her.

"Doctors always go around packing heat like that?" Daryl wonders to Dr. Jenner.

"There were plenty left lying around, I familiarized myself." He looks back over his shoulder at the group, "But you look harmless enough." He glances down at Carl, clutching Titan's leash. "Except you two, I'll have to keep my eye on you."

Carl gives a small smile, that in turn makes Phoenix smile.

The elevator takes them underground, Jenner leads the way down a ramp into a large room.

"Vi, bring up the lights in the big room."

The lights come on to reveal a giant room full of computers. But there is no one around but them. Jenner explained that the rest of the staff either fled or "opted out" which was the polite way of saying they committed suicide. The person he was speaking with turns out to be Virtual Intelligence, it controls the entire facility.

They head into what looks like a lecture room, there he takes a vile of blood from them all. He notices several of the women are shaky, "Are you ladies okay?"

"They haven't eaten in days, none of us have," Phoenix explains.

Jenner looks thoughtful for a moment before he instructs them to follow him.

* * *

Soon after they're all sitting around a table, eating their fill, drinking alcohol and laughing like they don't have a care in the world.

"You know in Italy, children have a little bit of wine with dinner." Dale laughs handing Lori a glass of wine he had poured for her. "And in France."

"Well, when Carl is in Italy or France, he can have some then." Lori covers Carl's glass, taking a sip of her own.

"What's it gonna hurt? Come on." Rick receives raised eyebrows from his wife. "Come on. What?" He laughs at the incredulous look she gives him, but she acquiesces, uncovering Carl's glass.

The table cheers as Lori seemingly agrees, even Daryl cracks a smile from his position behind T-Dog. He and Phoenix opted to sit on the counter behind the table, passing a bottle of Southern Comfort back and forth between them.

Dale pours a small amount into Carl's glass and hands it to him, "There you are young lad."

Carl takes a sip, immediately his face puckers up, "Eww."

All the adults laugh as Lori takes the glass from him, "That's my boy. That's my boy." She pours the wine from his glass into hers. "Good boy."

"That tastes nasty." Carl admits still shaking his head trying to get rid of the taste.

"You just stick to soda pop, huh bud." Shane laughs looking to Carl.

"Not you, Glenn." Daryl says. "Keep drinkin' little man. I want to see how red yer face can get."

The males at the table laugh, as Glenn shakes his head from his position on the counter across from Daryl.

Rick notices Jenner's concerned face, he stands up, clicking his glass with a knife. "It seems to me we haven't thanked our host properly."

A round of cheers go up to the Doctor, along with a "Booyah" from Daryl.

"So when you gonna tell us what the hell happened here, Doc?" Shane growls out.

After the explanation from Jenner, the group is solemn and quiet.

"Dude, you are such a buzzkill, man." Glenn tells Shane.

* * *

After that Jenner leads the way down a hall explaining everything. "Most of the facility is powered down including housing, so you'll have to make due here. The couches are comfortable, but there are cots in storage if you like. There's a rec room down the hall that you kids might enjoy. Just don't plug in the video games, okay?" He turns back giving the two kids a smile.

"Or anything that draws power. The same applies—" He looks up at the adults. "If you shower, go easy on the hot water."

Glenn turns around with a big smile, "Hot water?"

T-Dog smiles along, "That's what the man said."

The two of them laugh as the group splits up to choose their rooms. Of course the first thing everyone did was take showers, relishing in the feel of the warm water scrubbing away the filth and grime.

* * *

Phoenix doesn't worry about a shower just yet, she's still clean from her bath at the quarry. What she does want however, is something to kill this nagging feeling she has that they aren't safe here. She heads back to the cafeteria, going behind the bar she rummages around in the cabinets till she finds what she's seeking. The trusty bottle with the black and white label.

Grabbing a shot glass she sits down at the table, stretching her feet onto a chair next to her. She cracks open the bottle and ignoring the glass, takes a long pull feeling the liquid burning her throat on the way down. She tilts her head back on the chair and closes her eyes.

She hears someone enter the room, the chair legs squeak as it's slid across the floor and the person sits down on the other side of the table.

"Figured you'd be gettin' some rest."

Phoenix opened her eyes tilting her head back up and looking at the redneck across the table from her. He looked freshly out of the shower, with his messy hair damp and his facial hair slightly trimmed up. He had on another flannel shirt, and she started to wonder if any of his shirts had sleeves. His now empty bottle of So Co sat in front of him.

"What's the point? I'll sleep when I'm dead, which with the way things are goin' could be real soon."

He frowns as she takes a long pull from the bottle. Her sudden change in attitude catches him off guard. "There's obviously somethin' botherin' you besides yer feelin' bout this place. Want to talk bout it?"

"With you? No thanks Dixon."

"Why not?"

"Why do you care?"

"I don't." Daryl says quickly backpedaling, he didn't need her knowing she was growing on him. "Just figured if you got what was on yer mind off, then you'd be less emotional than the others females around here."

"I'm nothin' like the other females around here." She snaps taking another pull from the bottle.

"Got that right." He mutters standing up to retrieve another bottle from the cabinet, and to his luck he finds another bottle of So Co.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Daryl shivers from the icy glare she throws his way. "I just mean that yer stronger than any a them, smarter, you can take care of yerself, of anybody. But now that I see you like this, all givin' up and shit, I'm startin' to wonder if I was wrong bout you."

"You don't know shit bout me Dixon."

He sighs, running a hand over his face, yeah she was a lot like him. He decided to change the conversation, "Why do you call me that?"

"It's yer name." She says slowly with a pointed look.

"It's my last name, I ain't never heard ya call me Daryl."

"And ya never will."

"You call the rest of 'em by their first names."

Phoenix sighs, "Look, I try not to git close to people. In the end they either screw ya, or they hurt ya. I don't wanna take the chance of either."

"So if you don't trust people, then why are you here? Why not head out on yer own?"

"I could ask you the same question. It's no secret, you don't like any of them, you don't trust any of 'em. So why do ya stay?"

Daryl sat silent, in all honesty he didn't have an answer. She had a point, he didn't know why he stayed. But he knew why he was staying now, because of her. This woman had a hold on him he didn't understand. She ignored him most of the time, pissed him off the other and was rarely nice or spoke to him. But Daryl couldn't get enough. Even sitting here now, having her angry and snapping at him, he relished in it.

The two of them finished their bottles in silence, Daryl was the first to stand up, he rounded the table, leaning down to her ear. "Trust is the only way to survive."

Phoenix watched him walk out of the room, her head now officially hurt. Damn him. Why did he have to pick her as the one person to bond with. Granted the two of them were a hell of a lot alike. But Phoenix couldn't, wouldn't take the chance of letting another person, especially a man get close to her again. But she couldn't stop the pull of her towards Daryl.

* * *

She got up heading back towards her room, whether she wanted to admit it, Daryl was right, she needed her rest. However that was momentarily halted when she came upon Shane trying to force himself on Lori in the rec room. Phoenix saw red, visions of her past filling her head. She ran up grabbing Shane around the neck with the same choke hold she used on Daryl. When he calmed down slightly she shoved him away from her catching his neck on her nails and scratching four deep marks into his skin.

"If I ever see you force yerself on her or any other woman in my presence, I'll kill you."

She shoved Shane out the door and embraced the crying woman behind her. Maybe Daryl was right, you couldn't be around them and not care. So did that mean Daryl cared for them too?

* * *

The next morning Phoenix awoke feeling better than she had in several days. She dressed in a pair of black jeans, a red spaghetti strap tank top (they were the only ones she ever wore) and a long sleeved red, black and white plaid western shirt. She put on her black belt making sure her pin was still attached, tucked her necklace in her top and pulled on her brown cowboy boots. She brushed out her unruly locks and headed down to get some breakfast. She sits down next to Glenn on his right, giving the kid a small smile at his grim face.

Carl looks up as his dad with a smirk, "Are you hung over?" Lori looks at her son with wide eyes. "Mom said you'd be."

"Mom is right." Rick says with a smile.

"Mom has that annoying habit," Lori says around a piece of bacon.

"Eggs. Powdered, but—but I do 'em good." T-Dog says setting some eggs in front of Phoenix and Rick. "I bet you can't tell. Protein helps the hangover."

Glenn moans, grabbing his head. "Don't ever, ever, ever let me drink again."

Shane enters, Rick turns to him, "You feel as bad as I do?"

"Worse," Shane says looking from Lori to Phoenix, the latter giving him an icy glare.

"What the hell happened to you? Your neck?" T-Dog asks referring to the four deep scratches Shane's sporting.

"I must have done it in my sleep." He says glaring at Phoenix who smirks.

"Never seen you do that before," Rick tells him taking a drink of his coffee.

Shane shakes his head, "Me neither. Not like me at all." He glances to Lori who turns away from him.

Jenner walks in and after a small conversation he takes the group to the big room once again.

He punches something up on the computer, "Give me playback of TS-19."

The computerized voice responds, "Playback of TS-19."

The screen shows an MRI internal view of a human brain, an "extraordinary one" according to Jenner.

"Few people ever had the chance to see this. Very few." Jenner explained as we watched the screen with wide eyes. "Not that it matters in the end. Take us in EIV."

"Enhanced internal view." The computer responds before it goes to the enhanced internal view, on the virtual camera.

"What are those lights?" Shane asks from the back.

Jenner turned to us as he pointed back to the video. "That's a person's life. Experience, memories, it's everything. Somewhere in all that organic wiring, all those ripples of light, is you. The thing that makes you unique and human."

Daryl crosses his arms. "You ever make sense? Ever?"

"Those are synapses. Electro impulses in the brain that carry all the messages, they determine everything a person says, does, or thinks from the moment of birth…" Jenner pauses as he scanned our faces. "To death."

Rick steps up, "Death? Is that what this is? A visual?"

Andrea took a few steps forward as she watched the screen. "This person died… who?"

"Test subject 19." Jenner's shoulders sagged a bit in sadness. "Someone bitten and infected, volunteered to have us record the process. Vi, scan forward to the first event."

"Scanning to first event."

They watch as the infection, a blackness, invades the brain.

"What is that?" Rayne asks shifting side to side on her feet.

"It invades the brain like meningitis: the adrenal glands hemorrhage, the brain goes into shutdown, then the major organs…" The person on screen started to shake, then stops abruptly as the lights in the brain brunt out. "Then death. Everything you were or ever will be – gone."

"Is that what happened to Jim?" Sophia asked her mother innocently.

Carol nodded. "Yes."

Andrea looks beaten as she takes a deep breath and turns away, Jenner notices and gives her a questioning look.

"She lost someone 2 days ago." Lori explained. "Her sister."

Jenner walks over to Andrea. "I lost somebody too, I know how devastating it is."

Then it scans forward to the second event. "The resurrection time varies, between three minutes and 8 hours. In this patient it was two hours, one minute, seven seconds."

They watch as the infection restarts the brain stem. The parts that make a person who they once were doesn't come back, just a shell driven by mindless instinct. A white light streaks across the picture, searing a hole down into the skull.

"God, what was that?" Carol asks.

"A bullet." Phoenix says. "He shot his patient in the head. Didn't you Dr. Jenner?"

The screen and workstations power down, Jenner explains to them that he's not sure what causes it. He's been in the dark for a month, so he has no idea about any other facility. They finally realize what he's saying is that there isn't anything or anyone left in the world. The realization hits them like a freight train, each of them expressing their sorrow in a different way. Some with silence, some with one word, "Jesus", and some with three, "oh my God."

Of course Daryl had his own way with words, "Man, I'm gonna get shit-faced drunk—again." He wipes his hands over his face, turning to Phoenix, "You comin'?"

She simply nods, still trying to process this information, "Oh, yeah."

Dale walks over standing beside Phoenix, he glances to something behind her. "Dr. Jenner, I know this has been taxing for you and I hate to ask one more question, but… that clock—it's counting down. What happens at zero?"

All eyes turn to Jenner, "The basement generators—they run out of fuel."

"And then?" Rick asks with wide eyes as Jenner simply walks away.

"Vi, what happens when the power runs out?" Phoenix asks.

"When the power runs out, facility-wide decontamination will occur."

Rick, Shane, Glenn and T-Dog head down to the basement looking for the generators.

* * *

Back upstairs the lights have dimmed and the air conditioning have shut off. Phoenix steps out of her room in search of Dr. Jenner. She bumps into Daryl on the way.

"What the hell's goin' on?"

"You member that feelin' I told you I had bout this place?"

Daryl gets what she's saying and turns to follow her. Jenner walks past them as everything is shutting off, he snatches the bottle of So Co from Daryl's hand as he passes. He tells everyone that the building is shutting itself down.

"Hey! Hey, what the hells that mean?" Daryl asks as the group follows Jenner to the big room. "Hey, man, I'm talking to you. What do you mean it's shuttin' itself down? How can a building do anything?"

"You'd be surprised," is the only answer Jenner gives as they enter the big room. He hands Daryl back his bottle, the redneck snatching if from the man's hand.

Rick finally has had enough of Jenner's crap, he tells everyone to go grab their things, they're getting out of here. Suddenly a loud alarm starts blaring, stopping everyone in their tracks.

"30 minutes to decontamination," Vi says.

"Doc, what's going on here damn it!" Daryl yells.

"Everybody, y'all heard Rick. Get your stuff and let's go! Go now! Go!" Shane yells urging the group on.

Suddenly the door behind Rick that leads to the elevator closes, Jenner has locked them in.

"You son-of-a-bitch! You locked us in here!" Daryl charges Jenner, but he's cut off by Shane and T-Dog, "You locked us in here!"

"Jenner, you open that door right now." Rick tells him as he stomps over.

"No point, everything topside is locked down. I told you once that front door closed, it wouldn't open again. You heard me say that. It's better this way."

"What is?" Rick asks. "What happens in 28 minutes?"

"Do you know what this place is?" Jenner yells standing up. "We protected the public from very nasty stuff! Weaponized smallpox! Ebola strains that could wipe out half the country! Stuff you don't want getting out! Ever!" He ceases his rant and sits back down in his chair. "In the event of a catastrophic power failure—in a terrorist attack, for example—HITs are deployed to prevent any organism from getting out."

"HITs?" Rick asks Jenner, but before he can answer Phoenix speaks, her voice shaking. "Uh, High-impulse Thermobaric fuel-air explosives." Everyone turns to face her. "They consist of a two-stage aerosol ignition that produces a blast wave of significantly greater power and duration than any other known explosive except nuclear. The vacuum-pressure effect ignites the oxygen between 5000 and 6000 degrees and is useful when the greatest loss of life and damage to structures is desired." She stops, then softly adds, "It sets the air on fire."

"No pain." Everyone is stunned at Jenner's words, some are crying. "An end to sorrow, grief… Regret. Everything."

Shane and Daryl grab axes, swinging at the door, but neither are making even a dent.

"You should have let well enough alone. It would have been easier for everyone."

"Easier for who?" Lori spats at Jenner.

"All of you. You know what's out there—a short, brutal life and an agonizing death." He turns to Andrea, "Your—your—sister—what was her name?"

"Amy."

"Amy. You know what this does. You've seen it?" He turns to Rick, "Is that really what you want for your wife and son?"

"I don't want this," Rick stresses emphatically.

"Those doors are designed to withstand a rocket launcher."

"Well, yer head ain't!" Daryl cries swinging the axe at Jenner, Phoenix stands in front of him with her hand on his chest, Rick and Dale grab his arms.

"Dixon! Calm down!" She yells. "Back up! Just back up!"

He backs off, T-Dog pushing him back, they rest turn back to Jenner, "You do want this. Last night you said you knew it was just a matter of time before everybody you loved was dead."

Rick looks around, he didn't expect everyone to find that out. "I had to keep hope alive, didn't I?"

"There is no hope. There never was."

"There's always hope. Maybe it won't be you, or here, but somebody somewhere—"

"What part of "everything is gone" do you not understand?" Andrea snaps up at Rick.

"Listen to your friend. She gets it. This is what takes us down. This is our extinction event."

"This isn't right. You can't just keep us here." Carol says her voice coated in tears as she holds Sophie close.

"One tiny moment—a millisecond. No pain."

"My daughter doesn't deserve to die like this." Carol says standing up, as Sophie goes to Dale.

"Wouldn't it be kinder, more compassionate to just hold your loved ones and wait for the clock to run down?"

Shane has lost it, he points a shotgun in Jenner's face telling him to open the door. Rick is trying to talk him down, but it's not working. Shane yells firing at one of the computers, shattering the screen and sending sparks flying everywhere. Rick finally pries the gun from Shane's hands, smacking him in the head with the stock, sending him to the floor.

Rick looks around at everyone, he's lost to what to do now.

Phoenix meanwhile has been studying Jenner's face, she steps forward leaning against the computers next to him. "I think yer lyin' Doc."

"What?"

"Yer lyin'." She says slowly stressing each word. "About no hope. If that were true, you'd have bolted with the rest or taken the easy way out. You didn't. You chose the hard path. Why?"

"It doesn't matter."

"It does matter. It always matters. You stayed when others ran. Why?"

"Not because I wanted to. I made a promise… to her. My wife."

"Test subject 19 was your wife?" Lori asks him, in the background Daryl is pounding away at the door with the axe.

"She begged me to keep going as long as I could. How could I say no? She was dying. It should've been me on that table. I wouldn't have mattered to anybody. She was a loss to the world. Hell, she ran this place. I just worked here. In our field, she was an Einstein. Me? I'm just… Edwin Jenner. She could've done something about this. Not me."

"Yer wife didn't have a choice. You do. That's—that's all we want—a choice, a chance. Let us keep tryin' as long as we can." Phoenix says motioning to her group.

Jenner doesn't say anything, simply sits back down.

Phoenix sighs, "Fine, we'll do this the hard way." She grabs Jenner's hand twisting it back till it almost snaps, she uses her other hand to grab the ID card from his pocket. She shoves him back and walks down the stairs to the control pad on the lower desk. She slides the card and keys in his code, the door slides open.

"Come on. Let's go!" Daryl yells running through the doors.

Phoenix walks back up tossing the card on the desk in front of Jenner, he's wondering how she got his code. "Next time you enter a code, make sure no one's lookin' over yer shoulder." She heads for the door with everyone else.

"There's your chance. Take it." Jenner tells Rick bitterly.

"I'm grateful."

"The day will come when you won't be." The two shake hands and Jenner whispers something in Rick's ear. He seems immobilized, like he can't move so Lori runs down grabbing his hand and dragging him out with her.

Jacqui and Andrea decide they're staying. Dale won't leave without Andrea so he sits down deciding to stay with her.

* * *

Up top the guys take axes to the window and doors trying to get them open, but they won't even make a dent.

"God, I wish my brother was here with his explosives." Phoenix yells kicking the window.

"Phoenix, I have something that might help." Carol says as she rummages in her bag. "Rick's first morning at camp, when I washed his uniform I found this in his pocket."

She holds out a grenade, Phoenix sighs taking it, she kisses the woman's cheek. She runs over to the window, "Everybody get the hell down!" She carefully pulls out the pin and propping it directly against the window, let's the lever go. She jumps down from the sill and runs towards the others, the explosion knocks her down the stairs. The window shatters as she hits the floor, she gets up quickly grabbing her bag and bow and dashing out the window.

They run across the lawn towards the vehicles taking out walkers as they go. They pile inside the vehicles, Phoenix looks around, she spots Titan with Carl and lets out a breath. She sees Dale and Andrea jump out of the window and run towards them.

"Everybody get down!" Phoenix yells ducking, as the flames roll out of the open window. Within seconds all that is left of the building is a pile of rubber and a raging fire. They all catch their breath and fire up the vehicles, heading out of Atlanta.

* * *

The group decides it's too dangerous to travel in the fading light, so with a unanimous decision they head for the Elder Home where they encountered the Vatos. Daryl and Phoenix lead Rick and Shane inside the building, bows at the ready as they move silently down the halls. The four clear every room finding no sign of life anywhere. As they enter the auditorium they are shocked to find the floor littered with the bodies of the elderly patients and the Vatos as well.

After a quick glance around for walkers, of which they find none, odd given the amount of bodies and blood. Rick brings the rest of the group inside, they agree to spend the night in a few of the upstairs rooms. The group stands around taking in the grisly sight before them, only Daryl and Phoenix noticing and understanding the gravity of this situation.

Rick turns addressing the group, "Upstairs is our best bet, we've cleared a few rooms, we can barricade those if we have to. We'll be alright."

"You mean it this time?" Carol asks from a chair nearby, Sophia sitting on her lap. "Or are you lying to us like all the times before?"

"That's unfair and no help at all." Lori tells her sticking up for her husband.

Glenn's wavering voice breaks the tension as he glances around at the bodies of the people he had spent time with. "What the hell happened?"

"What do you think happened? They got overrun."

"Pfft."

Andrea turns to Daryl, a scowl on her face, "Something to say?"

"Yeah. How bout observant?"

"Observant. Big word from a guy like you. Three whole syllables."

Phoenix takes a step towards the blonde not liking her speaking to Daryl like that, the hunter is quick to grab the huntress by the arm shaking his head. Phoenix's eyes shift from Daryl to Andrea before she sighs nodding her understanding, he was telling her, 'she's not worth it.'

"Walkers didn't do this. Geeks didn't show up till all this went down. Somebody attacked this place. Killed all these people, took whatever they want."

Rick furrows his brows as he looks around at the bodies taking in Daryl's words. He kneels down to one of the corpses observing the single gunshot wound to the head.

"They're all shot in the head, execution style. Y'all worried about walkers? I'd be much more worried about the people that came and did all this." The hunter shoulders his crossbow looking pointedly at Andrea. "Get a dictionary. Look it up." He points a finger at his forehead, "Observant."


	6. What Lies Ahead

**Disclaimer - I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

Thank you to all of you who have followed or favored myself and my story.

* * *

The next morning the group heads out, making a stop in a small town to search for supplies and gather gas. They made the decision to condense vehicles, losing Shane's Jeep, the van and Daryl's truck, as he opted to ride Merle's bike instead.

So they set out for Fort Benning, 125 miles away, which by now seemed like an eternity.

They headed down the road, Daryl leading the way on his bike, followed by the RV, the Cherokee and Phoenix's truck heading up the rear.

Shortly after they left they encountered a big problem, a long line of abandoned cars and a semi trailer flipped on its side covered both sides of the highway. Daryl rides back through the cars to them, he nods as Dale asks if there's a way through, motioning with his head to follow him. Slowly they follow Daryl through the maze of cars until they hit a spot where they can go no further.

The RV springs another leak, Dale gets out and looks at the problem, as everyone makes their way to him.

"Something wrong Dale?" Shane asks earning an eye roll from Phoenix for his stupid question.

"Just the small matter of being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no hope of—" He watches Daryl and Phoenix rifling through the backs of two cars. "—okay, that was dumb."

"If you can't find a radiator hose here…" Phoenix trails off stating the obvious.

"There's a whole bunch of stuff we can find." Daryl says going through a few backpacks.

T-Dog steps past them, "I can siphon more fuel from these cars for a start."

"Maybe some water." Carol suggests.

"Or food." Glenn adds.

"This is a graveyard." Lori says looking around. "I don't know how I feel about this."

Phoenix steps forward, "Lori, these people are gone. They're in a better place. They won't miss these material things, but, I'll bet they'd be happy to find out that their things, helped others survive."

Everybody takes in the woman's words, she was right. Everybody split up to gather what they could. There are only a few corpses littered in the cars, but everyone is still on guard.

"Yo Dixon, give me a hand will ya."

Daryl heads over to a semi truck, it has a locking fuel cap, so together they pry it off then begin siphoning the fuel for Phoenix's truck. Suddenly he grabs her arm hauling her behind a truck, his hand over her mouth. She gives him a wide eyed stare wondering what he's up to, he points to the heard of walkers that are approaching them. She looks and nods, he removes his hand, nodding to her to follow him.

They make their way to where T-Dog is crouched, Phoenix can smell fresh blood in the air. She runs over, crouching down beside T-Dog, he's cut his right forearm open bad. She takes out one of her bandanas wrapping it around the wound and holding it tightly. His eyes dart to something behind her, she turns to see a walker moving towards them.

Then a welcome sight greets her eyes, Daryl comes in behind the walker and slams his screwdriver up through the back of the walker's skull, then quickly lays it down. He motions to them with his finger over his mouth, "Shh."

He lays T-dog on the ground, Phoenix next to him still keeping pressure on his arm. He covers them with the walker's body, then turns to the car beside them. He grabs the dead body in the drivers seat and pulls it out laying it on top of him on the ground.

After the herd passes Daryl helps Phoenix get T-Dog back to the others. She sets him down on the asphalt next to the RV. "Dixon, can you get the small black bag from under the right front seat in my truck."

Daryl nods running back to the truck and retrieving the bag. When he gets back Phoenix is unwrapping the bandana from T-Dog's arm. The group stands behind her watching as she cleans around the wound and inside the best she can.

"T, I'ma have to stich it up."

The man nods, he's drifting in and out of consciousness from blood loss, Phoenix knows she needs to do something now or he's going to bleed out. She pulls out a surgical needle and thread, pulling out her lighter she sterilizes the needle, then threads it.

She turns to Daryl, "I need you to hold him."

Daryl nods taking T-Dog's left arm and putting all his weight against the man. Phoenix takes a breath and then makes the first stitch. T-dog jerks and groans but not enough to make a difference to Phoenix. Within five minutes she has his arm stitched and bandaged up. She puts everything away and turns back to the men. "Good as new T."

"Thank you." He says softly.

"Where'd you learn that? Part of your survival course?" Glenn asks smiling.

Phoenix shakes her head returning the smile, "I'ma licensed EMT, but yes it is part of my course."

"What else can you do?" Dale asks impressed by this young lady.

"Well, I'm also a licensed Massage Therapist, Certified Mechanic and Scuba Diving Instructor."

The men all smile, this woman was something else. They were lucky to have her dropped into their lives.

* * *

Shortly thereafter Rick returned from out of the woods. He told everyone that two walkers had chased Sophie into the woods, he had followed and killed them but lost track of the little girl. Phoenix, and Daryl went back with him, Glenn and Shane. The hunters were the only ones who knew anything about tracking, so Rick felt better having them with him. Phoenix brought Titan along hoping her would pick up the girls scent.

"Sure this is the spot?" Daryl asks checking out the outcropping where Rick said he left Sophie.

"I left her right here. I drew the walkers way off in that direction up the creek."

"Without a paddle—seems where we've landed." Daryl quips.

"She was gone by the time I got back here. I figured she just took off and ran back to the group. I told her go that way and keep the sun on her left shoulder.

Daryl walks over to the embankment, looking up at Glenn. "Hey, Short Round, why don't you step off to one side? Yer mucking up the trail."

"Assuming she knows her left from her right."

"Shane, stop being a dick." Phoenix snaps earning a glare from the curly haired cop.

"She understood me just fine." Rick says defending Sophie.

"Kid's tired and scared, man. She had her close call with two walkers. Got to wonder how much of what you said stuck."

"Got clear prints right here." Phoenix motions Rick over as Daryl looks over her shoulder.

Daryl nods, "She did like you said and headed back to the highway. Let's spread out, make our way back."

"She couldn't have gotten far." Shane says helping them out of the creek. "Hey, we gonna find her. She'll be tuckered out hiding in a bush somewhere."

They walk back towards the highway, Phoenix and Daryl on point. "She was doing just fine till right here. All she had to do was keep going." Daryl says kneeling down.

Phoenix leans over his left shoulder pointing to the right, "Ya, she veered off that way."

"Why would she do that?" Glenn asks from beside Phoenix.

"Maybe she saw something that spooked her, made her run off." Shane wonders looking back at them.

"A walker?" Glenn asks.

"I don't see any other footprints. Just hers." Daryl points out, Phoenix agreeing as she scans the ground around them.

"So what do we do? All of us press on?" Shane asks.

Rick shakes his head, "No, better if you and Glenn get back up to the highway. People are gonna start panicking. Let 'em know we're on her trail doing everything we can. But most of all, keep everybody calm."

"I'll keep 'em busy scavenging cars. Think up a few other chores. I'll keep 'em occupied. Come on."

"Shane, wait." He stops, surprised she's speaking to him, more surprised when she hands him the keys to her truck. "You're gonna need to move some cars, use the winch on the front of my truck. Control's in the glove box. One scratch, and I'll beat ya to death."

He smiles taking the keys, before turning and walking away with Glenn. Phoenix turns moving behind Daryl through the trees.

"Tracks are gone." Rick says looking at the ground.

"No, they're faint, but they ain't gone." Phoenix tells him pointing to the ground. "She came through here."

"How can you tell? I don't see anything. Dirt, grass."

"You want a lesson in trackin' or you want to find that girl and get our ass off that interstate?" Daryl asks him as they push through the woods.

* * *

A few minutes later they stop, all three dropping into a crouch as they hear leaves rustling ahead of them. They move forward slowly staying low, below them is a walker. Daryl motions to Rick to go around to the front of it with Phoenix and he'll come from behind.

The three of them split up, Rick and Phoenix run down a small hill in front of the walker. Phoenix whistles to get it's attention, and Daryl fires a bolt through the back of it's head, the tip piercing out right above it's right eye. The three of them come to stand over the fallen walker, Daryl yanks his arrow out of it's head, he looks around, "Sophia!"

Rick kneels down, putting on his gloves he looks over the walkers.

"What are you lookin' for?" Daryl asks as he watches Rick.

"Skin under the fingernails." The two hunters lean down as Rick rolls the walker over and looks in it's mouth. "It's fed recently."

He digs his fingers into the walkers mouth, "There's flesh caught in it's teeth."

"Yeah, what kind of flesh?" Daryl wonders.

The three of them exchange glances, before Phoenix grabs one of her hunting knives. "Only one way to know for sure."

Daryl moves her out of the way, "Here I'll do it. Don't want you smellin' like death."

"Oh gee, my hero." Phoenix scoffs condescendingly.

"Wait. I'll do it." Rick says.

Daryl shakes his head, "How many kills you skin and gut in yer life anyway?" He pulls out his hunting knife, "Anyway, mine is sharper."

He stands over the walker, plunging the knife down into the corpse's chest and slicing down to the hips. The smell is overwhelming, it's like rotting flesh on a 150 degree day in a room with no windows. Phoenix watches Rick, he looks like he might hurl any minute.

It takes three times to get through the bone and flesh, but Daryl's knife cut through it like butter. He stops a moment catching his breath, "Now comes the bad part."

Daryl digs is hands into the body searching for the stomach. He pulls out a few unnecessary parts that are in the way tossing them to the side. Rick's squinting his eyes as the putrid smell makes them water and assaults their nasal cavity.

"Yeah, hoss had a big meal not long ago." Daryl says as he feels around inside the walker. "I feel it in there." He tosses a bag on the ground in front of Rick, "Here's the gut bag."

"I got this," Rick says taking out his knife and cutting into the bag.

Daryl picks up a skull with the end of his knife, holding it up for them to see. "This gross bastard had himself a woodchuck for lunch." He flings it down to the ground as they all stand up.

"At least we know," Phoenix says.

"At least we know," Daryl agrees.

* * *

The three of them walk back up to the interstate, Carol is standing by the guardrail, her heart drops as she sees them without Sophia. "You didn't find her?"

"Her trail went cold. We'll pick it up again at first light." Rick tells her trying to calm her fears.

"You can't leave my daughter out there on her own to spend the night alone in the woods."

"Out in the dark's no good. We'd just be tripping over ourselves. More peopled get lost." Daryl explains, his voice taking on a deep tone reminding Phoenix of velvet.

"But she's 12. She can't be out there on her own. You didn't find anything?"

"I know this is hard. But I'm asking you not to panic. We know she was out there." Rick says trying to calm the woman.

"And we tracked her for awhile," Phoenix adds.

"We have to make this an organized effort." Rick looks around at everyone. "Daryl and Phoenix know the woods better than anybody. I've asked them to oversee this."

Carol looks down at Daryl's pants, "Is—is that blood?" She starts breathing heavily, panicking.

"We took down a walker." Rick tells her.

"Walker? Oh, my God."

"There was no sign it was ever anywhere near Sophia." Phoenix says steadying the woman with a hand.

"How can you know that?" Andrea asks from behind Carol.

"We cut the sumbitch open, made sure." Phoenix says, earning a few interesting glances.

Carol breaths heavily sitting down on the guardrail, she looks up at Rick, "How could you just leave her out there to begin with? How could you just leave her?"

'Here we go' Phoenix thought to herself, she knew this would happen eventually. The look on Rick's face was one of pain and anguish.

"Those two walkers were on us. I had to draw them off. It was her best chance."

"Sounds like he didn't have a choice, Carol." Shane says stepping up beside Phoenix.

"Carol." Phoenix steps over the railing, kneeling down in front of the mom. "Rick did what needed to be done. Believe me, if he could switch places with Sophia he would. I would too."

Carol sighs, "How was she supposed to find her way back on her own? She's just a child. She's just a child."

Rick kneels down, looking up at Carol, "It was my only option. The only choice I could make."

"I'm sure nobody doubts that," Shane tells him.

Rick looks around, Phoenix can tell he's close to tears. He's trying to protect these people and now one of them was missing, because of his actions.

"My little girl got left in the woods."

Rick stands up, he walks off through the maze of cars. Phoenix follows him, when she catches up he's sitting on the ground against a car, the tears flowing freely. She kneels down in front of him.

"I failed. I failed Carol. I failed Sophia."

"Rick you didn't fail. We will find her."

"I was supposed to protect her, and now she's lost, out there alone and that's my fault."

"Rick you did what you thought was right. She got scared, ran, what kid wouldn't? If you put everythin' that goes wrong on you, yer gonna bury yourself and yer gonna drown. We are all responsible for this group, all a us. So it's just as much my fault, and everyone else's that Sophia is missin'."

Rick shakes his head, looking away from her. She grabs his chin roughly turning him back to her. "I trust you Rick. I don't trust anyone, not since this started. But I trust you. So I know we will find this girl." She lets him go and sits back on her heels, smiling. "You know, you remind me of my daddy. He always tried to protect everyone, felt it was his duty. But he came to realize that we had to learn to look out for ourselves too, cause he couldn't be everywhere at once. You are one man Rick, tryin' to carry 11 people. That's too much of a burden for anyone. We all can look out for ourselves, you need to lighten yer load, or it's gonna crush ya."

She gave him a small smile and stood up, turning she found Lori behind her. 'Thank you,' the woman mouthed to her as she moved toward her husband. Phoenix nodded then headed back to the RV.

"That is one smart girl." Lori says watching the younger woman leave.

"Yeah." Rick nods. "I'm glad she's with us."

"Me too."

* * *

The next morning Rick unrolls a black Gerber bag containing weapons Carl found the day before. Phoenix looks them over axes, knives, machetes, she nudges the boy, "Nice job, Carl."

The boy smiles, his eyes lighting up, he was glad someone was proud of him for what he found.

"Everyone takes a weapon," Rick announces to the group.

"These aren't the kind of weapons we need." Andrea spouts off. "What about the guns?"

"We've been over that." Shane says not looking up, "Daryl, Phoenix, Rick and I are carrying. We can't have people popping off rounds every time a tree rustles."

"It's not the trees I'm worried about." Andrea quips.

"Say somebody fires at the wrong moment, a herd happens to be passing by. See, then it's game over for all of us. So you need to get over it." Shane says setting the rules plain and clear.

"The idea is to take the creek up about five miles, turn around and come back down the other side." Daryl says looking around at everyone. "Chances are she'll be by the creek. It's her only landmark."

Rick nods, "Stay quiet and stay sharp. Keep space between you but always stay within sight of each other."

"Everybody assemble your packs." Shane says handing out water bottles.

Rick steps over to Dale sitting in the doorway of the RV. "Dale, keep on those repairs. We've got to get this RV ready to move."

Dale stands up, "We won't stay here a minute longer than we have to. Good luck out there. Bring Sophia back."

"Keep an eye on Carl while we're gone." Rick says laying his hand on his son's shoulder.

"I'm going with you." Carl states adamantly. "You need people, right? To cover as much ground as possible."

Rick groans looking over at his wife, she sighs in return, "Your call. I can't always be the bad guy."

"Well, he has all of us to look after him." Phoenix offers making Carl smile, thanking her for being on his side. "I'll stay by his side." The dog barks from Carl's side, "Titan too."

"I'd say he's in good hands," Dale agrees.

"Okay." Rick says giving in. "Okay. But always within our sight, no exceptions."

Phoenix winks at Carl, both of them smiling.

Andrea walks up to Dale, slightly shoving the other woman out of the way.

Dale sighs, "Andrea, I'm begging you. Don't put me in this position."

"I'm not going out there without my gun. I'll even say please."

"I'm doing this for you."

"No, Dale, you're doing it for you. You need to stop. What do you think's gonna happen? I'm gonna stick it in my mouth and pull the trigger the moment you hand it to me?"

"I know you're angry with me. That much is clear. But if I hadn't done what I did, you'd be dead now."

"Jenner gave us an option. I chose to stay."

"You chose suicide."

"So what's that to you? You barely know me."

"I know Amy's death devastated you."

"Keep her out of this. This is not about Amy. This is about us. And if I decided that I had nothing left to live for, who the hell are you to tell me otherwise? To force my hand like that?"

"I saved your life."

"No, Dale. I saved yours. You forced that on me. I didn't want your blood on my hands and that is the only reason I left that building. What did you expect? What, I'd have some kind of epiphany? Some life-affirming catharsis?"

"Maybe just a little gratitude."

"Gratitude? I wanted to die my way, not torn apart by drooling freaks. That was my choice. You took that away from me, Dale."

"But—"

"But you know better? All I wanted after my sister died was to get out of this endless horrific nightmare we live every day. I wasn't hurting anyone else. You took my choice away, Dale. And you expect gratitude?"

"I don't know what to say."

"I'm not your little girl. I'm not your wife. And I am sure as hell not your problem. That's all there is to say."

"Oh for fuck's sake!" Phoenix yells, garnering everyone's attention, they had never heard her yell like that. "Give her the God damn gun, or better yet—" Phoenix pulls one of her guns from its holsters and shoves it in Andrea's hands, "Take mine."

She turns to Dale, "If she wants to die Dale, let her. Let her put the gun in her mouth and pull the trigger. All it's goin' to prove is that she wasn't strong enough to survive. If she wants to take the cowards way out, so be it." She gives Andrea a hard look, "You have to realize when someone is a lost cause."

Phoenix pats Dale on the shoulder and walks away, leaving Andrea speechless and staring at the gun in her hands. She hands it to Rick as she walks past him. They walk single file through the woods, Daryl and Phoenix up front. Rick comes up next to her and hands her Glock back, she takes it with a nod and puts it back in the holster.

They come upon a campsite in the woods, Daryl points it out crouching down, the others follow his lead.

"She could be in there." Shane says.

"Could be a whole bunch of things in there." Daryl says moving forward, the two hunters halt the others behind them. Daryl pulls out his knife, with Phoenix covering him they move towards the tent. He sets down his crossbow, peeking through the door, then moving over to peek through the window. He moves back to the door, tossing his hands up at Rick.

"Carol." Rick motions to her to come forward. "Call out softly. If she's in there, yours is the first voice she should hear."

"Sophia, sweetie, are you in there? Sophia, it's Mommy. Sophia. We're all here, baby. It's Mommy."

After no answer, and assuring Phoenix's got his back, Daryl quietly unzips the door. There is someone sitting in a chair with their back to them. They all cough as the odor inside assaults them. Daryl steps inside, slowly and quietly.

"Daryl? Daryl?" Carol calls out softly.

Inside Daryl takes a revolver out of the hand of what once was a man. He puts in his waist band at his back. Stepping out he looks to Carol, "It ain't her."

"What's in there?" Andrea asks.

"Some guy. Did what Jenner said. Opted out. Ain't that what he called it?" Daryl says shouldering his crossbow.

Suddenly they all hear church bells ringing, they take off in the direction it's coming from. They come upon a white church, in the middle of a graveyard. But it couldn't be the right one, it has no steeple or bells.

They run around to the front doors, Rick and Daryl going in first, followed by Phoenix, Shane and Glenn. Three walkers sit in the pews, they turn at the sound of the door opening. The three stand up, snarling at the living. The guys ready their weapons but before they can blink, all three are taken down with an arrow to the eye.

The men turn their heads slowly towards Phoenix who furrows her eyebrows at the looks. "What?"

"You really are good with that thang," Daryl says giving her a grin.

"A little." She smiles before walking over and retrieving her arrows from the walkers.

Daryl follows her up to the front, he looks at the statue of the lord, "Yo, JC, you takin' requests?"

Suddenly the bells are heard again, Daryl and Phoenix push their way through the crowd, running outside to the left side of the building. There's a loud speaker on the top of the building, Glenn opens the box on the side of the wall and the ringing stops.

"A timer. It's on a timer." Daryl says.

After awhile of rest they all gather under a tree outside, Shane and Rick converse, then Shane approaches them. "Y'all gonna follow the creek bed back. Okay, Daryl, you're in charge. Me and Rick, we're just gonna hang back, search this area another hour or so just to be thorough."

"You're splitting us up. You sure?"

"Yeah, we'll catch up to you." Shane says.

Carl steps up, "I want to stay, too. I'm her friend."

"Just be careful, okay?" Lori says stepping up to him.

"I will."

"I'll be right with him Lori, he won't leave my sight." Phoenix assures the woman.

She smiles turning to her son, "When did you start growing up?" She hugs him, giving him a kiss on the head. After saying bye to Rick the two groups split up.

"Hey Rayne."

Phoenix turns around finding Daryl behind her, "Yeah?"

"Be careful, would ya."

"You too Dixon."

The two hunters smile before the groups part ways. The foursome plus the dog make their way through the woods. Around a corner they find a buck, standing no more than ten feet in front of them. Shane holds up his gun to shoot, but Rick motions him off. Phoenix crouches down, motioning for Carl to stay quiet. Together the two of them move slowly towards the deer, the two men behind them smiling. They stop for a moment, Phoenix kneeling down next to Carl.

All at once a gunshot is heard, Phoenix doesn't hesitate throwing herself in front of Carl, trying to protect him. As if in slow motion, she feels the bullet rip into the right side of her back below her shoulder blade, and exit out of her chest just a few inches below her collarbone. She feels Carl being ripped from her embrace, as she drops to the ground.


	7. Bloodletting

**Disclaimer - I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

Thank you to all of you who have followed or favored myself and my story.

* * *

Rick runs across the field with Carl cradled in his arms, Titan following on his heels. Behind him Shane is carrying Phoenix bridal style, she's slipping in and out of consciousness.

Bringing up the rear is the hunter that carelessly shot the buck, hitting Carl and Phoenix.

Rick turns back screaming, "How far? How far?!"

"Another half mile that way." The hunter says pointing in front of them. "Hershel. Talk to Hershel. He'll help your boy. And the girl."

* * *

A woman on the porch sees the group approaching, she turns to the front door, "Dad!"

They take the boy inside and place him in on a bed, immediately beginning to work on him.

Shane comes into the house carrying Phoenix, "Please someone help, she's losing blood, fast."

The woman who was on the porch is baffled, "Another one?"

Shane struggles to catch his breath, "She was protecting the boy, kneeled in front of him, bullet hit her first, went straight through."

They escort Shane to a bedroom upstairs, he follows laying her down on the bed. He heads back outside hoping they'll both be alright.

* * *

Back in the woods Lori is being plagued by the lone gunshot they heard. Andrea and Carol are talking about Sophia, Andrea tells her that everyone is praying with Carol that she's okay, for what it's worth.

Daryl steps in, snapping at them, "I'll tell you what it's worth—not a damn thang. It's a waste of time all this hopin' and prayin'. Cause we're gonna locate that little girl, and she's gonna be just fine. Am I the only one Zen around here? Good Lord."

Daryl walks back up front of the group, Lori smiles as he walks past, Daryl sure had a way with words.

The group heads back towards the highway, on the way Andrea is attacked by a walker. It knocks her to the ground, but before it can attack her, a woman on a horse rides up and wallops the walker with a bat. She calls out to Lori, says Rick sent her, Carl's been shot and she needs to come with her right now. Lori doesn't hesitate climbing up onto the horse.

The rest of the group gets back up to the highway and starts packing up to head to the farm like the woman said.

* * *

Back at the farm, Lori goes in and lays down on the bed next to Carl, Rick kneels down next to the bed taking Lori's hand. The two parents lie there hoping and praying that their son will pull through, they didn't come this far to lose him now.

* * *

On the highway everyone is debating on who goes and who stays. Dale tells Glenn he needs to get T-Dog to that farm. Phoenix stitched his cut but without antibiotics, he's getting a blood infection and will die if he doesn't get treated.

Daryl shakes his head walking over to the bike's saddle bags he pulls out a bag of prescription bottles. He picks up a rag off the motorcycle, tossing it at Dale. "Keep yer oily rags off my brother's motorcycle." He sets the bag down on the Cherokee's hood, "Why'd you wait till now to say anythin'? Got my brother's stash. Crystal, X. Don't need that. Got some kick ass painkillers."

He tosses the bottle to Glenn, then goes back to the bag. "Doxycycline." He tosses that bottle to Dale. "Not the generic stuff neither. It's first class. Merle got the clap on occasion."


	8. Save the Last One

**Disclaimer - I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

Thank you to all of you who have followed or favored myself and my story.

* * *

Daryl lays on the floor of the RV, his hands behind his head. He lifts his head up looking at Carol sobbing in one of the back beds. He looks behind him, at the table Andrea is fooling around putting bullets in a clip.

He realizes he's not getting any sleep tonight, so he gets up, grabbing his crossbow and putting the strap over his head. "I need my clip now."

She hands him the clip, he slaps it in his gun. "I'm gonna walk the road, look for the girl."

Carol hears him and looks up, he nods to her before walking outside with his flashlight.

"I'm coming, too." Andrea says stepping out behind him.

Daryl nods to Dale on top of the RV, "I'm going for a walk. Shine some light in the forest. If she's out there, give her somethin' to look at."

"Do you think that's a good idea right now?" Dale asks honestly.

"Dale," Andrea says shortly, before she walks off.

Daryl gives him a face that says 'sorry she's being a bitch'.

* * *

Outside the farm house Glenn and T-Dog pull up in the Cherokee. They get out walking up to the door, the woman from earlier on the horse startles them from the side of the porch. "Did you close the gate when you came in?"

Glenn stutters, "Uh, hi. Yes, we closed it. Did the latch and everything." She sits forward smiling, Glenn starts rambling, "Hello. Nice to see you again. We met before briefly."

"Look, we came to help. There anything we can do?" T-Dog asks looking worse for the wear.

She stands up, eyeing the bandage on his arm, he notices and quickly dispels her fears. "It's not a bite. I uh, I cut myself pretty bad though. Phoenix stitched it up, but I don't feel very good."

"We'll get you looked at. I'll tell them you're here."

"We have some painkillers and antibiotics. I already gave him some. If Carl needs any."

"He may and the girl too."

"Phoenix? What happened? Is she alright?" Glenn asks rushed.

"Come on inside. Your friend can explain."

The two walk inside checking on Carl, then they head to the kitchen with Maggie, the woman who was on the horse.

* * *

Out in the woods Daryl is walking with Andrea, his mind keeps drifting to Phoenix. It's been different not having her out there tracking with him. Most of the others are okay, they only irritate him a little, but Andrea, drives him crazy and now he's stuck walking with her in the woods. He was impressed with what Phoenix said earlier that day to Dale about Andrea. She basically hit the nail on the head. She speaks her mind, and stands up for the people that need her too. If he had to pick someone to be stuck with, he'd rather have her.

"You really think we're gonna find Sophia?" Andrea's voice breaks into his thoughts.

He shines the light on her face for a moment, "You got that look on your face same as everybody else. What the hell's wrong with you people? We just started lookin'."

Damn, were he and Phoenix the only two with any faith?

"Well, do you?"

"It ain't the mountains of Tibet. It's Georgia. She could be holed up in a farmhouse somewhere. People get lost, they survive. It happens all the time."

"She's only 12."

"Hell, I was younger than her and I got lost. Nine days in the woods eatin' berries, wipin' my ass with poison oak."

"They found you?"

"My old man was off on a bender with some waitress. Merle was doing another stint in juvie. Didn't even know I was gone. I made my way back though. Went straight into the kitchen and made myself a sandwich. No worse for wear. Except my ass itched somethin' awful."

Andrea laughs, Daryl gives her a look, "I'm sorry," she says covering her mouth with her hand. "I'm sorry, that is a terrible story."

They both laugh, before Daryl shakes his head, "Only difference is Sophia's got people looking for her. I call that an advantage."

The two of them continue walking until they hear a rustling in the leaves to their right. Daryl whips his crossbow up, Andrea ducking behind him. They move towards the sound and find a campsite. There's a loud rustling in the tree above their heads, Daryl moves towards it slowly, shining his light up into the leaves.

"What the hell?"

Daryl can't believe what he's seeing—A walker is hanging from a noose in the tree. He wished Phoenix was here, she'd get a kick out of this, just like he is. His eyes move to a note stuck to the tree trunk by a knife.

"Got bit. Fever hit. World gone to shit. Might as well quit. Dumbass didn't know enough to shoot himself in the head. Turned himself into a big swinging piece of bait. And a mess."

Andrea groans, Daryl looks back at her, "You all right?"

"Trying not to puke."

"Go ahead if you gotta."

"No, I'm fine. Let's just talk about something else for a moment. How'd you learn to shoot?"

"Gotta eat. That's one thing these walkers and us have in common. I guess it's the closest he's been to food since he turned. Look at him, hanging up there like a big piñata. The other geeks came and ate all the flesh off his legs."

If Daryl was trying to make Andrea puke, it worked. She vomited, then coughed, "I thought we were changing the subject."

"Call that payback for laughing about my itchy ass." He shook his head smirking, Phoenix wouldn't have puked. Dang why did he have to keep thinking about her.

"There wasn't a lot that came up."

"Huh." Daryl turns, "Let's head back."

Andrea glances at him, "Aren't you gonna…"

Daryl looks up at the walker, "No. He ain't hurting nobody. Ain't gonna waste an arrow either. He made his choice. Opted out. Let him hang."

She moves over beneath the walker, it starts clawing at the air, desperately trying to reach her. She just stands there staring up at it.

Daryl steps towards her, "You want to live now or not?" She whips around looking at him, he matches her stare, "It's just a question."

"An answer for an arrow. Fair?"

He nods, "Mm-hmm."

"I don't know if I want to live or if I have to or if it's just a habit."

Daryl raises his crossbow, "That's not much of an answer." He shoots the arrow into the walkers head instantly silencing it. "Waste of an arrow."

* * *

Back at the farm house, T-Dog was having his arm looked over. "The stitches are good, she did a good job closing it. But you do have an infection, but it has nothing to do with the stitch job. All you need is some antibiotics and rest."

Shane arrives back with the equipment needed to save Carl, and that's exactly what Hershel does. Rick and Lori are relieved to hear that Carl is going to be fine.


	9. Cherokee Rose

**Disclaimer - I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

Thank you to all of you who have followed or favored myself and my story.

* * *

The next morning the rest of the group arrive at the farm, Rick and Lori go out to meet them.

"How is he?" Dale asks.

"He'll pull through, thanks to Hershel and his people." Lori says.

"And Shane," Rick adds. "We'd have lost Carl if not for him. And Phoenix."

"How did it happen?" Dale asks.

"Hunting accident. That's all—just a stupid accident." Rick tells them.

He notices Daryl looking around the farm before Daryl's eyes come back to settle on him, he knows what he's going to ask and dreads the explanation. "Where's Rayne?"

Rick stutters slightly, "She's in the house, uh, she was shot too."

"I thought you just said it was an accident." Daryl snaps.

"It was. When the gunshot sounded, Phoenix put herself in front of Carl, trying to protect him. She took the brunt of the impact."

Maggie steps up seeing that this man cared for the woman, "Uh, Daryl?" His glance turned to the girl. "She's okay. The bullet went straight through her shoulder, not much damage. I'll take you to her if you want."

Daryl nods, ignoring the looks he's getting from the group at his sudden concern for someone who wasn't his brother. He follows Maggie into the house and to the upstairs bedroom.

Maggie smiles at him, "Just holler if you need anything."

Daryl nods, biting the inside of his cheek as she leaves, shutting the door behind her. He sits down in the chair next to the bed, his eyes roaming over the woman in the bed.

Her skin is very pale and covered in sweat, Maggie mentioned her fever had just broke that morning. Her hair was still in the braid it was in when he last saw her two days ago, only it was messier with strands falling out here and there.

The sheets were pulled up to just above her chest, her arms resting over them. It was clear she wasn't wearing a shirt. Daryl shook his head, now was not the time for him to be thinking like that about her. He could see the top of the bandage on her right shoulder, it was lightly faded pink from the blood. She was hooked to an IV since she had been unconscious since the accident.

He watched her eyes flutter and sat back, wondering what reaction he was gonna get when she saw him sitting by her bedside.

* * *

The first thing Phoenix saw when she woke up made her wonder if she was still asleep, that or dreaming. Daryl Dixon. Sitting in the chair next to her bed. Wait. Why was she in bed? She started to sit up only to be met with an excruciating pain in her right shoulder. She laid back down gently touching the bandage with her fingers.

Suddenly it all came back to her and she started to panic. Daryl noticed and leaned over towards her, "Hey, hey, calm down."

"C-Carl. Is he okay?" She all but whispered, her mouth feeling like it was full of cotton.

Daryl nodded, "He's gonna be fine."

She smiled laying her head back and closing her eyes. She was about to ask Daryl why he was here when the door opened. A beautiful woman with short brown hair came in.

"Oh great, you're awake. How do you feel?"

"Better."

"Good. I'm Maggie. Let me get you some water and my dad will be up here shortly to check on you, okay?"

Phoenix nodded, the woman smiled as she left the room, returning a moment later with a glass of water. She left the two alone, Daryl watching Phoenix closely as she sipped her water. She tried to set the glass down but every time she rolled to her left, the stitches pulled in her shoulder.

Daryl watched her with mild amusement, knowing she was stubborn and refused to ask for help. He figured one of two things was going to happen. Either she would keep being stubborn and tear her stitches open, or she would ask him for help. He was surprised when she looked to him, a pleading look in her eyes. He smiled, she wasn't going to come right out and say she needed help, but her eyes said everything. He leaned forward taking the glass and setting it on the table next to him.

"Thanks."

He nodded, "You are stupid, you know that."

She nodded not speaking, knowing he had more to say.

"What the hell were you thinkin' taking that bullet?"

"I was tryin' to save Carl." She said in a whisper, then lowering her head and biting her lip, picking at her fingers. She couldn't understand why Daryl scolding her made her feel like what she had done was wrong. She felt the need to apologize for getting herself shot. Why did he have this effect on her?

"I'm sorry." She said softly worrying her bottom lip between her teeth.

"Please don't bite yer lip like that."

She looked up at his strained voice, catching his eyes, she saw something in them she hadn't seen before. He was looking at her like HE had, the one before, the one who was responsible for the way she was now.

She looked away not being able to hold his gaze. "Why are you here?"

"Why wouldn't I be? I'm checkin' on my friend. We are friends aren't we?"

"To be perfectly honest, I don't know what we are."

"I do. We're a team." He sighs, "None of them understands me like you do. Nobody has ever stood up for me, or my brother ever. You didn't know either of us and you stood up for us, you took my side on things. You're the only one I can stand to be around and not want to kill. You make the day enjoyable, I'd be miserable if you weren't here."

Phoenix didn't know what to say, here he was basically pouring his heart out to her, telling her he cared for her, in his own way of course. Who would've thought, Daryl Dixon, caring about someone who wasn't his brother.

Before she could say anything the door opened and an older man walked in. He glanced between the two of them, "I'm sorry. Did I interrupt something?"

"Na Doc, yer good." Daryl said standing up. "I'll check on you later." He leaned down and kissed her forehead, making her smile.

After he left the man turned to her with a knowing smile. "I'm Hershel."

"Phoenix. Thank you, for everything."

"You're welcome. I can see you're itching to get out of this room but I'd like you to rest for a few more days. Get some fluids and solid food in you, make sure you don't get an infection."

"Okay, that sounds fine. I guess more rest couldn't hurt."

"No it couldn't. I'll have one of the girls bring you some food." He said standing up and walking to the door.

"Thank you again."

"You're very welcome young lady. By the way, where did you learn to stitch like that?"

"I was an EMT before this all started."

"Very good job. I'll check on you later sweet pea."

Phoenix smiled as the elder man left, he reminded her of her grandfather.

Hershel's youngest daughter Beth came in with a plate of food.

Afterwards Phoenix decided to take Hershel's advice and let her eyes drift closed.

* * *

Outside Rick is standing by the porch when Daryl walks by headed for the woods.

"Daryl. You okay on your own?"

"I'm better on my own. Don't worry, I'll be back before dark."

"Hey. We got a base. We can get this search properly organized now."

"You got a point or are we just chattin'?"

"My point is it lets you off the hook. You don't owe us anything."

"My other plans fell through." Daryl says walking off. He wasn't about to tell Rick that he didn't want to leave. And the main reason for that was a beautiful blue-eyed woman.

* * *

Out in the woods Daryl comes across a clearing, a farm house in the center. He kicks open the front doors, making his way room to room checking for walkers. Inside what appears to be a kitchen he finds an empty can of sardines in the trash, He picks it up smelling it, testing its staleness. He drops it back into the trash as he notices a cabinet ahead of him, the door slightly ajar. He raises his crossbow, slowly moving towards it. He reaches out with one hand and yanks the door open. On the floor is an empty make-shift bed.

He walks out the back door, "Sophia! Sophia!" Something in the field catches his attention, he walks over finding a bush with two white flowers on it.

Daryl goes back to the house, he heads into the RV noticing quickly how clean it is inside. He's chewing on a piece of straw as he walks back to the rear bedroom finding Carol sitting on the bed sewing.

"I cleaned up. Wanted it to be nice for her."

He looks around, "For a second I thought I was in the wrong place." He sets a beer bottle down on the counter behind him, in it is the white flower from the house.

"A flower?" Carol asks.

Daryl takes the piece of straw from his mouth. "It's a Cherokee rose." He waits to see if she knows what it means, when she doesn't speak he steps forward. "The story is that when American soldiers were moving Indians off their land on the Trail of Tears the Cherokee mothers were grieving and crying so much cause they were losing their little ones along the way from exposure and disease and starvation. A lot of them just disappeared. So the elders, they uh, said a prayer; asked for a sign to uplift the mother's spirits, give 'em strength and hope. The next day this rose started to grow right where the mothers' tears fell. I'm not fool enough to think there's any flowers blooming for my brother. But I believe this one bloomed for your little girl."

Carol gives a small laugh, wiping the tears from her eyes. Daryl walks back to the front door, "She's gonna really like it in here."

* * *

Daryl heads into the house to check on Phoenix, he knew he was foolish for thinking she was ever gonna look at him like Lori looked at Rick. But at this point he just wanted her in his life any way he could have her.

As he opened the door he noticed she was asleep, so he crept in as quietly as he could and sat down in the chair by the bed. She was wearing a long sleeved blue, black and white plaid western shirt. He figured it was easier to get on and off with her shoulder. She had also taken the braid out of her hair and it now tumbled freely across the pillow and her shoulders.

He watched her eyes flutter and open, blinking away the sleep. When her eyes found him she smiled, it was times like this, when knowing that seeing him made her smile, it made every day worth it to Daryl. He never thought such a small thing could mean so much.

"Hey. Did ya find Sophia yet?"

"Not yet. But I found some clues today." He proceeded to tell her about the house and the rose, after which she smiled.

"I'll bet that meant a lot to Carol. Who knew Daryl Dixon had a heart."

He did have a heart and it jumped as he heard her say his first name for the first time. He wanted to say something to her about that but was afraid she'd take saying it back, so he stayed quiet. Then he remembered something and stood up rummaging around in his pockets. He pulled out two things handing them to her. "I thought you might want these. They took 'em off when they were patchin' you up."

She looked down at the Navy Cross on the silver chain and the silver Navy Seals Trident pin. She smiled at him, her eyes saying everything for her again.

"You gonna tell me bout those." Daryl asked. He didn't want to push her, but he wanted to know something about her. Something that might help him understand why she kept him at a distance.

"My brother Nico. He was a Navy Seal. He received this Navy Cross on his last deployment. He said it was a shame to let it sit in a box, he was proud of it and I was proud of him. So he made it into a necklace and he gave it to me. He was always my hero and now I could prove it and show it off to the world. The pin is an exact replica of his gold trident he received when he graduated Sear Training. He wanted me to be able to take care of myself when he wasn't around. So he taught me everythin' he had ever learned and put me through his own Sear Training camp. By the end he said I had everythin' it took to become a Seal. So he had this pin made especially for me, to remind myself that I was worthy."

Daryl watched as she stared at the cross and pin, rubbing her fingers over them lovingly. "What happened to him?"

"I don't know. I was on my way to Florida to meet his ship when it came in, when this all happened. I don't know if he made it. If any of my family did. He was always my partner in crime. Where he went, I went. Even though he was older than me, he always included me in everythin' he did. He taught me everythin' he ever knew. He looked out for me, cared for me, I was his little sister, I came before everyone else."

Her voice broke at the end and she couldn't stop the tears. Seeing her crying and in pain broke Daryl's heart. He made a quick decision and got up moving over to the bed, he sat down beside her.

She flinched lightly until she realized what he was doing. Almost immediately she laid her head on his chest and curled into his side, ignoring the protest her shoulder was giving her.

Daryl held her tight, running his hand through her hair.

"I just want to know they're all okay. That they made it. I need to know."

Daryl held her until she had cried herself back to sleep, but instead of moving, he stayed put. He turned off the light and for the first time in a while he drifted to sleep quickly and slept soundly all night long.


	10. Chupacabra

**Disclaimer - I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

Thank you to all of you who have followed or favored myself and my story.

* * *

The next morning Daryl woke up, and for a moment he forgot where he was. When his hand brushed a lock of silky hair he looked down. Everything about last night came back to him and he couldn't help but smile. Phoenix was snuggled against his right side, her right arm and leg were draped over him pinning him in place. He knew if he moved she would wake up, and no part of him wanted to move, but he knew he had to go out and find Sophia.

So as gently as he could he eased himself out of the bed, propping her injured arm up with a pillow so it wouldn't become stiff. He kissed her forehead and snuck quietly out of the room. As he reached the bottom of the stairs Maggie smiled at him, he gave a small smile back.

"She'll be fine. I'll take good care of her."

* * *

Daryl nodded to the young woman as he walked out of the front door and over to his tent to change clothes. He walked back over to the group as they gathered to discuss the search plans for the day.

"All right, everyone's getting new search grids today." Rick address the group as they look over the map. "If she made it as far as the farmhouse Daryl found, she might have gone further east than we've been so far."

Shane shakes his head as he opens the door of the car and sits down on the seat.

"I'd like to help." The group turns to find Jimmy, Hershel's son standing before them. "I know the area pretty well and stuff."

"Hershel's okay with this?" Rick asks not wanting to disrespect their host.

"Yeah, yeah. He said I should ask you."

"All right then. Thanks." Rick tells the boy.

"Nothing about what Daryl found screams Sophia to me." Shane scoffs interjecting his two cents. "Anyone could have been holed up in the farmhouse."

"Anybody includes her, right?" Andrea tells him.

"Whoever slept in that cupboard was no bigger than yay-high." Daryl motions with his hand showing about Sophia's height.

"It's a good lead," Andrea tells him.

"Maybe we'll pick up her trail again." Rick says looking to Daryl.

"No maybe about it." Daryl says pointing to the map. "I'm gonna borrow a horse, head up this ridge right here, take a birds-eye view of the whole grid. If she's up there, I'll spot her."

"Good idea." T-Dog says smirking. "Maybe you'll see your Chupacabra up there, too."

"Chupacabra?" Rick says with furrowed eyebrows.

"You never heard this?" Dale says opening the bag of guns. "Our first night in camp, Daryl tells us that the whole thing reminds him of a time when he went squirrel hunting and he saw a Chupacabra."

The kid laughs and Daryl snaps at him, "What are you brayin' at, jackass?"

"So you believe in a blood-sucking dog?" The kid scoffs.

Daryl shakes his head scratching under his eye, "Do you believe dead people walkin' 'round?"

The kid reaches for the shotgun Dale set on the hood, Rick takes it from him, "Whoa, you ever fire one before?"

The kid shakes his head, "Well, if I'm going out I want one."

Daryl shoulders his crossbow walking away, "Yeah, and people in hell want Slurpee's."

Shane tells the kid that if he wants to learn, Shane will teach him as he's a Certified Instructor. Andrea says for now he can come with them, as she checks her hand-gun.

* * *

Daryl makes a quick detour inside to see Phoenix before he heads out. She's awake when he walks in, Titan laying on the bed next to her.

Again she smiles as she sees him and his heart thumps loudly. "Hey, I'm goin' out to look for Sophia and I just wanted to check on you first."

"I'm glad you did. Wish I was comin' with ya." She groans staring up at the ceiling, "I'm so bored."

He grins, "Well maybe when I get back I'll get ya outta here for awhile. Go for a walk or somethin'. Sound good?"

She nods smiling, "Sounds good. You be careful out there okay?"

"Always. I'm takin' a horse and goin' to check out that ridge we were talkin' bout. I'll be back by nightfall."

She nods as he turns and heads out the door. She turns to Titan, "Watch his back, would ya bud?"

Titan licks her face before he bounds out of the room and out the front door. He catches up to Daryl and walks at his side.

Daryl glances down at the dog, "Guess she sent you to keep an eye on me?"

Titan barks back and Daryl grins, "Alright then. You better keep up."

* * *

An hour later Daryl has reached the ridge on horseback. He sees Titan chase a squirrel up a nearby tree and pegs it with an arrow. He maneuvers the horse over to the tree and pulls out the arrow. He yanks the squirrel off the end putting it in the bag behind him. Titan looks up at him with what Daryl figures is a smile, he grins down at the dog. "Nice job."

"Whoa." Daryl slows the horse to a stop, looking down to the bottom of the ravine on his left he spies what looks like a doll at the bottom by a log. He jumps down off the horse, tying the lead-rope to a tree. He pulls his crossbow off his back and gently makes his way down the hill, the Pit Bull right at his side.

At the bottom he crosses the creek bed and picks up the doll, it's the one Morales' daughter gave to Sophia the day they all split.

"Sophia!"

He makes his way back up the hill and mounts the horse, making his way further down the top of the ravine. Birds fly up in front of the horse startling it, "Whoa. Easy, easy. Come on." He purses his lips, making sounds close to a kiss which urge the horse forward.

Suddenly a snake hisses in front of the horse, slithering towards it. The horse gets spooked, rearing up it knocks Daryl off its back. He tumbles down the steep embankment, which halfway down turns to rock with water running down it to the bottom. He slams into the rocks and finally lands on the hard ground at the bottom of the cliff in the river.

"Son-of-a-bitch."

He tips his head up trying to find out why his left side hurts like a bitch. His answer, is one of his arrows has pierced through his side. His forehead is bleeding from a gash on the right side by his hairline.

He crawls out of the river on his hands and knees, careful not to jerk the arrow around. When he reaches the sandy shore, he pulls out his knife and cuts his sleeves off his shirt. He ties them together, putting it around his waist he wraps the fabric around the arrow to immobilize it. He knows if he pulls it out now, he may bleed to death.

He looks up at the cliff to his left, climbing that is gonna be a bitch but he's gonna have to do it to survive. He looks around not seeing Titan anywhere, he scoffs, "So much for watchin' my back, stupid dog."

What Daryl didn't know was that stupid dog was running as fast as he could back to the farm to get help.

* * *

Daryl stands up, grabbing a stick off the ground to lean on he looks up the cliff. He hears a rustling and branches cracking to his right. He looks around not seeing his crossbow anywhere. He realizes it must be in the water somewhere near where he fell. He wades back out into the water, feeling around with the stick he locates the crossbow, lifting it out of the water.

He gets out of the water again, moving on the other side of a fallen tree, he starts up the cliff. It's extremely steep and every move he makes is agonizingly painful. Almost halfway up he hits a spot where every place he steps or tries to get a hold with the stick slides off, like a mud slide. He tosses the stick down, and sighs tryin' to catch his breath.

"Oh, come on. You've done half. Stop being such a pussy. Come on."

He steels himself taking a big breath and shoving his weight forward. But he still cant find a place to grab that doesn't immediately slip away. He moves back to his position between two small trees, but he looses his balance and plummets backwards down the hill. He hits the ground below with a sickening thud.

* * *

Back at the house Phoenix has had enough of being bedridden. She stands up, gingerly pulling on her jeans and boots. As she makes her way downstairs Hershel frowns at her, "Well took you longer than I expected. Take it easy. Nothing strenuous."

She smiles sheepishly as she heads out onto the porch. Maggie happens to be out there with Glenn. The Asian smiles as he sees her, "Hey. How you doing?"

"I'm good thanks to Hershel and his family." She smiles at Maggie, who returns it warmly.

Phoenix stretches out on the porch steps, chatting amiably with the couple. They take off shortly after and Phoenix decides to have a small chat with Hershel. She grabs her two Glocks, rifle and the bag of ammo, returning into the house to find him at the kitchen table.

"Back so soon sweet pea?" Hershel smiles noticing the bag over her left shoulder.

Phoenix sets the bag, hand-guns and rifle on the table before Hershel. "Rick told me you'd feel better if no one was carryin' on your property, so I'm turnin' these in to you."

Hershel smiled, he hadn't expected her to be so willing, but judging by the knives he saw she owned, he would bet she was just as deadly with those as the guns. He picked up the two Glocks placing them in the bag of ammo, and standing he shouldered it. He slid the rifle back over to her with a smile, "I'd feel better if you kept this."

She smiled back giving a small nod she slung the rifle onto her back. As she opened the door to leave Hershel addressed her, "Phoenix I trust you and that is not something I do lightly. When and if you need you these, all you have to do is ask."

Phoenix nodded taking her leave, after placing the rifle in her truck she decided to take a small walk. She ended up down on the far side of the barn when abruptly something catches her attention, she stops quickly looking for the source.

Titan bursts out of the trees heading straight for her. He stops at her feet barking and jumping.

She suddenly realizes what's wrong, looking into the woods, "Daryl." She looks down to the dog, "Take me to him."

* * *

Daryl opens his eyes, he makes out a blurry figure standing over him. As the face come into focus he recognizes the man, his brother Merle.

"Why don't you pull that arrow out, dummy? You could bind your wound better."

Daryl smiles giving a small laugh, Merle smiles as well, "What's going on here? You taking a siesta or something?"

"A shitty day bro."

"Like me to get you a pillow? Maybe rub your feet?"

"Screw you."

"Huh-uh. You're the one screwed from the looks of it. All them years I spent trying to make a man of you, this what I get? Look at ya. Lying in the dirt like a used rubber. You're gonna die out here, little brother. And for what?"

"A girl. They lost a little girl." His face contorts in pain.

"So you gotta thing for little girls now?"

"Shut up." Daryl says his voice nothing but a whisper.

"No, I think you gotta thing for long brown hair and blue eyes."

Rayne's face flashes in Daryl's mind.

"Not that I blame ya, she is a prize piece of ass if I've ever seen one."

"Don't you fuckin' talk bout her like that." Daryl growls out, making Merle laugh.

"Well, well, little brother got a crush? You don't honestly think you stand a chance with her do you? You think she'd want a damaged, backwards ass redneck like you? Ha. Boy, you couldn't handle her, or know what to do with her if you did have her."

Daryl looked around wondering if she was worried about him, if she'd come looking for him.

"What, you think she's gonna come lookin' for ya? She's probably banging one of 'em other boys by now, forgot all about you. Just like you forgot about me. I noticed you ain't out looking for old Merle no more."

"Tried like hell to find you, bro."

"Like hell you did. You split, man. Lit out first chance you got."

"You lit out. All you had to do was wait. We went back for you. Rick, Rayne and I, we did right by ya."

"This is the same Rick that cuffed me to the rooftop in the first place? Forced me to cut off my own hand? This him we're talking bout now?" Daryl looks down noticing that Merle's hand is still attached. "You his bitch now?"

"I ain't nobody's bitch."

"You're a joke is what you are, playing errand boy to a bunch of pansy-asses, niggers and democrats." Merle chuckles, "You're nothing but a freak to them. Redneck trash. That's all you are. They're laughing at you behind your back. You know that, don't you? I got a little news for you, son. One of these days, they're gonna scrape you off their heels like you was dog-shit. They don't give a damn about you. Not even your little country girl. She don't care about you, she pities you, feels sorry for ya."

Daryl's eyes start to close, Merle smacks his chest. "Hey. They ain't your kin, your blood. Hell, you had any damn nuts in that sack of yours, you'd go back there and shoot your pal Rick in the face for me. Now you listen to me. Ain't nobody ever gonna care about you except me, little brother. Ain't nobody ever will. Come on, get up on your feet before I have to kick your teeth in."

He kicks Daryl, "Let's go." Jerks his legs, "Come on."

Daryl finally comes to and realizes its not Merle jerking his legs, but a walker. Daryl pushes himself backwards, kicking the walker in the face. It gets back up, crawling over the top of him. He tries to reach his crossbow but can't get close enough, so he grabs a sharp piece of wood and stabs the walker in the side.

Then he hits him in the side of the head, rolling them over so Daryl's on top, the walker grabs a hold of Daryl's hair. The hunter rolls them over tossing the walker away from him. Daryl grabs a stick smacking the walker in the face with it and knocking him down. He puts the stick across the walker's chest than brings it down smashing the walker in the face twice, sinking its skull in. Daryl then turns the stick vertical and drives the end down into the walker's head killing it.

By now the noise has attracted another walker from out of the bushes. Daryl screams as he pulls the arrow out of his side. He puts it in his mouth as he cocks the bow. By the time he sets it and loads the arrow the walker is over the top of him. Daryl lays down on his back and fires up embedding the arrow in the walker forehead. It falls forward onto the ground, the arrow squishing further through it's head as it is pushed against the ground.

He lays there trying to catch his breath and passes out. When he wakes he notices it's getting later, the sun is starting to sink. He pushes himself up sitting on a rock nearby, he takes off his over-shirt wadding it up and putting it over the wound tightening the fabric around it.

"Son-of-a-bitch was right."

He sits down on a log by the water, gutting the squirrel he had shot earlier and eating the raw meat earning him a face covered in blood. After which he took one of the walker's shoelaces and after cutting off their ears, he made himself a necklace, putting it on he looks up at the cliff.

He starts up the cliff again, getting halfway up he reaches the spot he got stuck at before. He sees birds overhead cawing at him, and hears his brother's voice. "Please, don't feed the birds."

He looks up to the top of the cliff and sees Merle's face looking down at him laughing. "What's the matter, Darylina? That all you got in you? Throw away that purse and climb."

"I liked it better when you was missin'." Daryl retorts as he struggles up the hill.

* * *

A little ways away Phoenix is moving through the woods, Titan took her to the spot where Daryl was thrown. They only sign of him were two dead walkers at the bottom of the ravine. She stops, listening intently, she could swear she hears a voice. She moves slowly, holding her shoulder. She wasn't in any condition to be out here, but she knew he was in trouble and she wouldn't forgive herself if she didn't find him. It didn't matter what happened to her, there were only a few she would die for and he was one of them.

Merle laughs, "Now come on, don't be like that. I'm on your side."

"Yeah? Since when?"

"Hell, since the day you were born, baby brother. Somebody had to look after your worthless ass."

"You never took care of me. You talk a big game, but you was never there. Hell, you ain't here now. Some things never change."

"Well, I'll tell you what—I'm as real as your Chupacabra."

"I know what I saw."

"And I'm sure them shrooms you ate had nothing to do with it, right?"

"You'd best shut the hell up!"

"Or what?" Merle antagonizes, "You gonna come up here and shut my mouth for me? Well, come on and do it then, if you think you're man enough." Merle laughs, "Hey, kick off them damn high heels and climb, son."

Merle laughs as Daryl becomes more angry, pushing himself up the hill. "You know what?" Merle tells him. "If I were you, I'd take a pause for the cause, brother. Cause I just don't think you're gonna make it to the top. Come on. Come on, little brother. Grab your friend Rick's hand."

With one last effort, Daryl grasps the top of the cliff. He pushes himself up, getting his footing and grabbing onto a tree next to him he pulls himself back over the top.

Panting he looks around, "Yeah, you better run."

"Daryl?!"

He looks to his right following the voice, and finds Phoenix, with Titan at her side. Sure the first time she says his name and it had to be under these circumstances. He couldn't believe she was out here. Her clothes were dirty, her face and body covered in sweat. He could see blood seeping through her shirt at her shoulder.

"What are you doin' out here?" He asks walking up to her.

"Lookin' for you." She said giving him a onceover.

"How did you know where I was?"

"Titan." Motioning down to the Pit Bull at her side. "He ran back to the farm and found me, lead me back here."

Daryl realized he was wrong about the dog, he reached down ruffling the dogs ears. "Thanks mutt." Titan licked his hand and barked.

"What the hell happened to you?" She asked touching his forehead, which made him flinch and his side he had wrapped in the tourniquet.

"Damn horse threw me, fell down the cliff and stabbed myself through the side with an arrow. Two walkers came at me, I killed 'em."

Phoenix walked over looking down the cliff side, then back to Daryl. "You climbed up that? Injured?" The look she gave him was full of admiration and pride.

"No biggie." He said shrugging.

She rolled her eyes, "Cocky much Dixon? Come on, let's get you back." She placed his right arm around her neck and put her left arm on his back, he tensed slightly so she moved her hand to the back of his neck.

Together they slowly made their way back to the farm. As they neared the edge of the woods Phoenix slowed down, "Daryl, I don't think this is a good idea."

"What?"

"The suns going down, if anyone is on watch… If they're lookin' through a scope, all they're gonna see is glare from the sun. They might not know it's us."

"Your point?"

"Look at us. If I didn't know better I'd say we were walkers ourselves. Especially you."

Daryl growled shoving her away from him, "Then stay here. I'm goin'."

Phoenix growled, stomping her feet. Damn that man for being so stubborn and not thinking things through.

"Daryl, wait!"

By the time she caught up with him, he was stumbling along, dragging his crossbow behind him and from behind he looked just like a walker. She saw four people running across the field towards them and hoped they would realize it was her and Daryl before they took a shot.

By the time the four of them had gotten close enough, Rick had his gun drawn. From where they stood they swore Daryl was a walker.

"Is that Daryl?" Glenn asks.

"Wait! Don't shoot!" Phoenix says coming up beside the hunter.

"That's the third time you've pointed that thang at my head." Daryl snaps referring to Rick's gun. "You gonna pull the trigger or what?"

Rick lowers the weapon as they realize walkers don't talk. Suddenly a gunshot sounds and Daryl drops to the ground.

"No!" Rick screams. "No! Stop!"

"Daryl!" Phoenix screams falling to his side. She searches for the wound, and breathes a sigh of relief when she realizes the bullet just grazed the left side of his forehead. "Oh my God."

Rick and Shane help Daryl up, he breaths out, "I was kidding."

Andrea and Dale run across the field towards them. "Oh, my God." Andrea screams as they get closer. "Oh, my God is he dead?"

"Unconscious. You just grazed him." Rick tells her.

"Yeah, unconscious. Like yer gonna be in two seconds!" Phoenix says lunging for Andrea, only to be caught by Dale. "Let me go! You could've killed him, you bitch! If I get my hands on you I swear to God Andrea, I'll put you out of yer misery myself!"

"What the hell happened to him?" Glenn asks. "He's wearing ears."

"Their called trophies Glenn. Hunters take trophies from things they kill. Especially when what they killed, tried to kill them. He killed two walkers." Phoenix says vehemently, still trying to calm down, her adrenaline raging.

Rick rips the necklace from Daryl's neck putting it in his pocket, "Let's keep that to ourselves."

"Guys, isn't this Sophia's?" T-Dog holds up the doll Daryl found.

* * *

They take Daryl in the house, as Phoenix is making her way up the steps, and amid protests from everyone, Andrea tries to talk to her. Everyone stays within distance to intervene knowing Phoenix could probably kill Andrea.

"Phoenix, I'm so sorry, I thought he was a walker."

The huntress stopped on the first step, dropping her head and turning around. "You don't know anythin' bout guns do you?"

Andrea shakes her head no.

"I didn't think so, because if you did, you'd know that you never fire when you have a glare in your scope. You have no idea what you're shootin' at." She points to Dale and Shane, "These guys know better, they should've never let you take that shot."

"They told me not to. But I didn't listen."

Phoenix smirks holding up a finger, "Wait a minute. Let me process this. You're tellin' me that not only was there a glare on your scope and you couldn't see clearly, but you were told not to take that shot and you still took it?!"

Phoenix was in Andrea's face by the end of her rant. She was breathing heavily as she glared at the stupid woman, she lifted her fist but stopped, "You know what, yer not even worth it."

Andrea sighed thinking she had dodged a bullet, but before she knew what had happened she was on the ground. Phoenix had turned around and nailed Andrea in the mouth with a right cross, sending the other woman sprawling on her back.

She stood over the woman, "But that did make me feel better."

* * *

Phoenix smirked before heading back in the house, she stopped in the hallway touching her shoulder. She pulled her hand away to find blood on her fingers. She shook her head for being so foolish, but damn did that make her feel good.

She knocked on the door to the room she was in, hearing Hershel tell her to enter. She stepped in and over to the far side of the bed standing in the corner. Rick stood next to the bed and Shane sits in the chair next to him as Hershel patches Daryl's side up. She rolls her eyes at the cold stare she gets from Daryl, she had no idea what was wrong with him, he was suddenly acting like she was the plague.

"I found it washed up on the creek bed right there." Daryl tells them about where he found the doll. "She must have dropped it crossin' there somewhere."

"Cuts the grid almost in half," Rick says looking to Shane.

"Yeah, you're welcome." Daryl snaps looking down at his side.

"How's he looking?" Rick asks Hershel.

"I had no idea we'd be going through the antibiotics so quickly. Any idea what happened to my horse?" Hershel says washing his hands in a basin of water.

"Yeah, the one who almost killed me? If it's smart, it left the country."

"We call that one Nelly, as in nervous Nelly. I could've told you she'd throw you if you'd bothered to ask. It's a wonder you people have survived this long."

Rick and Shane leave the room, after which Hershel turns to Phoenix. "Let me see."

She sighs unbuttoning her shirt and shrugging it off her right shoulder. The man really was like her grandfather. He peeled off the bandage that was now soaked in fresh blood, revealing the popped stitches sticking out of the now inflamed skin.

He shook his head, "Sweet pea, what did you do?"

"Punched the bitch who shot him." She said shrugging like it was no big deal. But Daryl was surprised she did that for him.

Hershel sighed, "I'll be right back with the needle and thread." With that he left the two alone.

"Stop lookin' at me like that." She snaps looking over at the hunter.

"Like what?"

"Like I'm somethin' lower than the dirt you walk on. Like I'm the reason you're hurt. Don't forget I'm the one who came after you. I even knocked that bitch in the mouth for shootin' you."

"Just to clear your conscious I'm sure." He snarked.

"Fuck you Dixon. I should've left you out there." She turned her back to him staring out the window.

"I could've got back on my own, it wasn't like you were much help. It's not like you did anythin'. I did all the hard work, you just walked with me back."

Phoenix was furious at herself, for caring about someone else when she knew it would be a mistake and for the tears gathering in her eyes and the way her lip was beginning to quiver.

They stayed there in silence, she didn't turn around until Hershel came back into the room.

"Sweet pea, why don't you come sit over here." He motioned to the chair next to the bed.

"No. I prefer to stay over here."

The two men heard the hitch in her voice but neither said anything. Hershel simply nodded grabbing the chair and bringing it over to her in the corner. She sat down and waited for Hershel to begin. Luckily she was wearing a strapless bra so Hershel didn't have anything in the way, nor did she bother to cover her chest up.

Daryl couldn't help his eyes drifting over to her, mainly to her well developed chest, only hidden to him by a black piece of fabric. He didn't mean to be so cold to her but his brother's words were echoing in his head and he couldn't shake them. It was better for them both to simply let whatever was going on, go, stop it now.

He watched as she stared stoically straight ahead, unshed tears in her eyes that he knew were not because of the pain in her shoulder. She looked different to him now, it was as if she became a completely different person. Her eyes were dull, not bright like they had been that morning when he had said goodbye to her. He felt a change in the air immediately after what he had said to her.

After Hershel had finished stitching the wound closed again, he cleaned the blood from around it and laid a fresh bandage over the top.

"Now please sweet pea, take it easy this time." Hershel softly kissed her forehead and cleaned up his mess. "I'll leave you two alone."

"That's okay Hershel, I'm not stayin'." Phoenix walked out of the room without a backwards glance at Daryl.

Hershel turned to the young man in the bed, "Son, I don't what you've been through in your life, but a woman like that is one of a kind." Hershel walked out after that, leaving Daryl to his thoughts.

He's lying on his side facing away from the door, his head wrapped in a white bandage. He hears the door open, part of him hopes its Phoenix, but those are dashed when he looks over at the door and sees Carol carrying a tray of food. He grabs the sheet lying around his waist immediately pulling it up to his neck, trying to hide his body.

"How are you feeling?" Carol sets the tray down on the nightstand next to the bed.

"Bout as good as I look." He says rolling back over.

"I brought you some dinner. You must be starving." She leans down to him, Daryl flinches as she kisses his forehead.

"Watch out, I got stitches." He says not knowing how to act so he resorts back to being a dick.

"You need to know something." She waited for him to look at her. "You did more for my little girl today than her own daddy ever did in his whole life."

Daryl got uncomfortable with the comment, rolling over, "I didn't do anything Rick or Shane wouldn't have done."

"I know. You're every bit as good as them. Every bit." Carol smiled before leaving the room.

Daryl laid there now plagued by new thoughts, ones that made the things his brother said, almost seem untrue.


	11. Secrets

**Disclaimer - I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

Thank you to all of you who have followed or favored myself and my story. This is just a filler chapter but I hope you like it.

* * *

The next morning Phoenix woke up after a night of fit full sleep. Everything hurt, her head, her shoulder, her heart. She couldn't believe she had been stupid enough to consider letting Daryl close to her. She should've learned her lesson from HIM, but obviously she didn't.

She got dressed in a pair of light blue jeans, her brown boots and a green, black and white western shirt. She pulled her hair into a braid and tucked her knives into her boots. As she jumped down out of her truck she saw Andrea hesitantly approaching Daryl's tent, her eyes locked on the woman who had busted her lip. Phoenix simply rolled her eyes and turned away, leaving Andrea confused as to why she suddenly didn't care.

Andrea stepped into the tent, Daryl was lying on the cot poking holes in the screen by his head with an arrow. "Hey."

He looked to the door to see Andrea, her lip was split on the left side, top and bottom, and it was black and blue around the corner of her mouth. Phoenix really had done a number on her.

She steps inside handing him a book, "This is not that great, but…"

Daryl takes it flipping through the pages, "What, no pictures?"

They both smile, "I'm so sorry. I feel like shit."

"Yeah, you and me both." Daryl says adjusting his pillow.

"I don't expect you to forgive me, and Phoenix certainly never will, but if there's anything I can do…"

"You were trying to protect the group. We're good."

Andrea smiles before walking back out the door. "But, hey…" She stops at his voice. "Shoot me again, you'd best pray I'm dead."

* * *

Outside Phoenix has decided to go hunt, the group is running low on food. Truthfully she just can't stand to be at the camp fending off Daryl's icy glares. He has yet to even tell her why the sudden change in his attitude, but Phoenix doesn't care. It's better for them to be at odds, then she can fight these feelings she has for him. As long as he keeps pushing her away, she can deny her feelings for him.

Since she knows she can't shoot her bow yet, she straps on her Kukris and grabs her rifle knowing it's silent so she's not worried about attracting walkers. She makes her way out into the woods Titan by her side just as silent as she is, she scoures the ground until she finds what she has been looking for. Following the trail she finds herself down by a small creek, guessing it was the same one Daryl climbed out of only smaller at this end. Moving silently through the trees, she crouches behind a set of bushes, she spies her game on the opposite side of the creek. Is head is down relishing in the cool water, she takes aim with the rifle and in seconds the deer is down.

She sloshes across the creek to the deer, it's still alive but barely, Phoenix kneels down next to it unsheathing her knife. She says a small prayer before stabbing the deer and putting it down quickly. She takes the rope from her belt loop, securing it around the deer's stomach underneath the back legs. The other end she ties to Titan's harness she had put on him that morning, and together the woman and the dog take their prize back to the farm.

Everyone's eyes are on the deer as the two walk back into camp, but none more so than Daryl who is awestricken at the fact she caught a deer. He watches as she converses with Hershel about cleaning it, then cooking it for dinner. Hershel directs her to the right side of the house, he brings her a deep metal pan that she can put the meat into when she is done and a plastic bag to put the skin and entrails into.

Phoenix kneels down releasing Titan from his harness, the dog then heads straight for the house to see Carl. The woman turns back to the job at hand, rolling up her sleeves and unsheathing her knife. Just as she is about to cut into the deer, she hears a throat clear above her.

"I can skin that for you, gut it too."

She glances up into the unsure blue eyes that watch her every move with curious hesitation. She shakes her head not wanting to deal with him now, "No thanks, Dixon. I got it."

Phoenix turns back and slices the deer open, reaching inside she pulls the guts and entrails out placing them into the plastic bag.

Daryl shakes his head, he was hoping to kinda fix things with her, he knew he was wrong listening to his brother's words. He should've known just offering to help her wasn't going to be enough, no, Daryl Dixon was going to have to do something he had never done. Apologize.

He sat at his tent watching Phoenix with rapt attention as she expertly gutted and skinned the deer. He became more enthralled as she began removing the meat from the carcass, she didn't leave one piece of meat behind. She would carefully take the meat from the bone, not leaving any, wash it off and toss it in the pan. By the time she was done, all that was left of the deer was the skeleton.

Phoenix took the heavy pan of meat inside, she had to cut the meat up small in order to get it to all fit, but she didn't think anyone would mind. Maggie and Beth were more than happy to cook the meat for her, both excited not remembering the last time they had venison. Phoenix returned outside to dispose of the guts and carcass, but she found them gone already. She wondered who had picked it up. Thinking it may have been Daryl she shrugged not reading much into it as she went back inside to clean up.

Dinner that night was relaxing, everyone eating till they were stuffed. Phoenix was happy to see that none of the deer meat remained, even more happy that she finally felt useful to the group.


	12. Pretty Much Dead Already

**Disclaimer - I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

Thank you to all of you who have followed or favored myself and my story.

* * *

Another day goes by and Phoenix is getting restless without her bow, she decides to try shooting today. Her shoulder is still sore, but the wound is basically healed, just waiting for the stitches to fall out. She sits around the fire pit with everyone else, it's silent, all of them lost in their own thoughts.

Carol offers her some breakfast but she declines, she hasn't been hungry the last few days, not since her blow out with Daryl. Just as she is ready to take off to the woods, Glenn stands up and addresses everyone with some disturbing news.

"Um, guys." No one really looks up at him except Dale, Shane and Phoenix. "So…" He stops trying to find the words, and then just blurts out, "…the barn is full of walkers."

That garners everyone's attention, all eyes are on him. They all take a trip down to the barn to confirm Glenn is right. Which he is.

"You cannot tell me you are alright with this?" Shane tells Rick after looking inside to see the walkers for himself.

"No, I'm not, but we're guests here. This isn't our land."

"God, this is our lives!" Shane yells.

"Lower your voice." Glenn tells him.

"We can't just sweep this under the rug." Andrea adds in.

"It ain't right, not remotely." T-Dog tells them eyeing the barn.

"We've either got to go in there, we've got to make things right or we've just got to go." Shane says tossing his hat on. "Now we have been talking about Fort Benning for a long time."

"We can't go." Rick stresses to his best friend.

"Why, Rick? Why?"

"Because my daughter's still out there." Carol says stating the obvious.

"Okay." Shane places his hands over his mouth, breathing deep. "Okay, I think it's time we all start to just consider the other possibility."

"Shane, we're not leaving Sophia behind." Rick tells him firmly.

Daryl steps in, "I'm close to finding this girl. I just found her damn doll two days ago."

Shane laughs, "You found her doll, Daryl. That's what you did. You found a doll."

"You don't know what the hell you're talking about." Daryl says advancing on Shane, Phoenix steps in between them, not looking to Daryl, just holding them apart.

"I'm just saying what needs to be said. You get a good lead, it's in the first 48 hours."

"Shane, stop." Rick says.

But Shane keeps going, "Let me tell you something else, man. If she was alive out there and saw you coming all methed out with your buck knife and geek ears around your neck, she would run in the other direction."

"Shut your mouth!" Daryl says pushing against Phoenix as she held him back.

"Wait!" Rick yells to the both of them.

The entire group gets involved trying to keep the two of them apart.

"Now just let me talk to Hershel. Let me figure it out." Rick says pointing to Shane.

"What are you gonna figure out?!" Shane screams coming at Rick, only to have Lori step in between them, "Enough!"

"If we're gonna stay, if we're gonna clear this barn, I have to talk him into it. This is his land."

Dale steps between the two, "Hershel sees those things in there as people—sick people—his wife, his stepson."

"You knew?" Rick asks him.

"Yesterday I talked to Hershel."

"And you waited the night?" Shane snaps.

"I thought we could survive one more night. We did. I was waiting till this morning to say something. But Glenn wanted to be the one."

"The man is crazy, Rick." Shane growls out. "If Hershel thinks those things are alive or not."

Suddenly the barn door starts shaking, the chain holding it together rattling. The walkers inside can hear their shouting and are trying to bust the door down to get to them.

* * *

Phoenix takes a walk to the stables, when she was a kid, just being around her horses made her feel better. She's inside the stall brushing down one of the mares when she hears someone come in. She glances out to see Daryl carrying a saddle, she knows he's going out again to search for Sophia.

He sets the saddle down on a rack, breathing heavily as the pain in his side aches.

"You can't." Carol's voice says as she enters the barn.

"I'm fine."

"Hershel said you need to heal."

He grabs a bridal off the wall, "Yeah, I don't care."

"Well, I do. And I know Phoenix does too."

The woman's head perks up at that statement. Sure she cared, but she didn't think anyone else noticed, apparently she was wrong.

"Rick's going out later to follow the trail."

"Yeah, well, I ain't gonna sit around and do nothing." He says strapping the bridal on the horse.

"No, you're gonna go out there and get yourself hurt even worse. We don't know if we're gonna find her Daryl. We don't. I don't."

Both of the hunters are shocked to hear her say that. It pisses Daryl off. He steps away from the horse, moving towards Carol. "What?"

Carol shrugs, "Can't lose you, too."

Daryl drops the bridal at her feet, he steps over by the saddle biting his lip. He picks up the saddle throwing it then groans and doubles over in pain. Carol runs to him, "Are you all right?"

"Just leave me be." He says slapping her hand away. "Stupid bitch."

* * *

Shortly after Daryl takes Carol down by the pond. "You see it?"

"See what?" Carol asks not seeing anything in particular.

He walks her around to the backside of the pond, pointing at a group of flowers. Cherokee roses.

"I'll find her." He states. "Hell, I'm sorry bout what happened this mornin'."

"You wanted to look for her. Why? This whole time I've just wanted to ask you."

"Cause I think she's still out there. Truth is, what else I got to do?"

Carol glances at him several times, then she leans down touching the petal of one of the roses. "We'll find her. We will. I see it."

* * *

Phoenix is sitting on the porch when Andrea and T-Dog walk up. Glenn asks them, "You haven't seen Rick?"

"He went off with Hershel." Andrea says. "We were supposed to leave a couple hours ago."

Daryl walks up with Carol behind him. "Yeah, you were. What the hell?"

Carol chimes in, "Rick told us he was going out."

Daryl snaps, "Damn it. Isn't anybody takin' this seriously? We got us a damn trail." He sees Shane walk up with the bag of guns. "Oh, here we go."

"What's all this?" Daryl asks.

Shane hands him a shotgun, "You with me man?"

"Yeah." Daryl says taking it.

"Time to grow up."

"You already got yours?" He asks Andrea.

"Yeah. Where's Dale?" She asks.

"He's on his way," Shane says handing out guns, the group takes them albeit with some hesitation.

"Thought we couldn't carry." T-Dog asks as Shane hands him a hand-gun.

"Yeah, well, we can and we have to. Look, it was one thing sitting around here picking daisies when we thought this place was supposed to be safe. But now we know it ain't." Shane turns to Glenn, "How bout you, man? You gonna protect yours?"

Glenn takes the shotgun, Shane turns to Maggie, "Can you shoot?"

"Can you stop? You do this, you hand out these guns, my dad will make you leave tonight."

"We have to stay, Shane." Carl says coming down from the porch.

"What is this?" Lori asks coming out of the house.

"We ain't going anywhere, okay?" Shane assures Carl. "Now look, Hershel, he's just gotta understand. Okay? He—well, he's gonna have to. Now we need to find Sophia. Am I right?" Shane says to Carl kneeling down in front of him. "Huh? Now I want you to take this." Shane holds out a hand-gun to Carl. "You take it, Carl, and you keep your mother safe. You do whatever it takes. You know how. Go on, take the gun and do it."

Lori puts her hand on Carl's chest pushing him behind her. "Rick said no guns. This is not your call. This is not your decision to make."

"Oh, shit." Everyone turns to where T-Dog is standing. There before their eyes are Rick and Hershel barging out of the woods and down the hill by the barn, guiding two walkers on catch poles like they were dogs being taken on a Sunday stroll through the park. Now that, Phoenix knew even for Rick, was a whole mountain of stupid that words couldn't even begin to describe. The entire group of survivors quickly made their way to the barn where Shane made a giant scene for all to see.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"Shane, just back off."

"Why do your people have guns?" Hershel asks Rick.

"Are you kidding me?" Shane yells watching them hauling the two walkers like stray dogs. "You see? You see what they're holding onto?"

"I see who I'm holding onto." Hershel tells him.

"No, man, you don't."

"Shane, just let us do this and then we can talk." Rick pleads with him.

"What you wanna talk about, Rick?" Shane yells, behind him Daryl and Phoenix have their guns trained on the two walkers.

Phoenix knew how Hershel felt, how his family felt. But damn it these weren't people anymore, just mindless shells wanting to rip them apart. This group was her family now and she would do whatever to protect them.

"These things ain't sick. They're not people. They're dead. Ain't got to feel nothing for them cause all they do, they kill! These things right here, they're the things that killed the Amy. They killed Otis. They're gonna kill all of us, if we do not…"

"Shane, shut up!" Rick yells.

"Hey, Hershel, man, let me ask you something." Shane pulls his hand-gun from his waistband. "Could a living breathing person, could they walk away from this?" He fires three shots into the walker.

"No!" Rick yells. "Stop it!"

"That's three rounds in the chest. Could someone who's alive, could they just take that?! Why is it still coming?" Two more shots. "That's its heart, its lungs. Why is it still coming?" Three more shots.

"Shane, enough." Rick screams.

"Yeah, you're right, man. That is enough." Shane walks up shooting the walker point blank in the head. "Enough risking our lives for a little girl who's gone! Enough living next to a barn full of things that are trying to kill us. Enough. Rick, it ain't like it was before! Now if y'all want to live, if you want to survive, you got to fight for it! I'm talking about fighting right here, right now."

Shane runs over to the barn door, snapping the lock off and releasing the walkers from inside. Shane backs up and takes aim, Andrea and Phoenix run up beside him taking aim as well. One by one they take out the walkers. Daryl sides up next to Phoenix, as T-Dog runs up too. Glenn looks at Maggie with uncertainty until she nods at him to go help, which he reluctantly does.

The six of them fire until every walker is on the ground. Shane looks back at Rick with a look that said 'now that's how it's done.' Abruptly their silence is short lived, as another growl is heard from inside the barn. They wait for the walker to appear, but no one is ready for the shock they receive.

Sophia.

Carol's voice was the first to break the silence as she hysterically cried out her daughter's name and blindly ran towards her, but Daryl was quick to throw down his weapon and grab ahold of her. The two fell to the ground, where Daryl kept his firm grip on her as Carol sobbed endlessly. Everything that Daryl had worked so hard for...Gone. And now he was left to feel like the world's biggest douchebag for having gotten so pissed at Carol, when she had been right all along. Daryl had made such a fuss over everyone's lack of faith, only to have been shitted on as the reality of Sophia's death now settled itself right before their very eyes.

The entire group is shaken, no one is without tears or a solemn face.

Phoenix can see the pain and grief on Rick's face, he blames himself for this. Her breath caught in her chest. It was her. Sophia. Her bright blue eyes narrowed a moment as she lowered her rifle, unable to set her hunter's sites on such a precious child; the very one they'd broken the back of love to find.

Sophia...

Tears welled in her eyes. She blinked them away; immediately snapping to attention when she heard Carol's hysterical scream. She winced, watching Daryl take her to the ground and watch in horror from the zombified girl's presence. Sophia had been dead this whole time. "Christ!" She hissed to herself, mortified from the lack of truth, from the danger the whole group had been put in and from her own stupidity in not snooping around the farm itself when they had first arrived. She could have done so much more... so much more to help protect these people and she had let them down.

The little girl picks her way through the maze of bodies moving forward towards the humans in front of her, growling and snarling.

"Don't watch." Lori tells her son as she covers his face, cradling him on the ground in her arms.

No one moves, none of them want to take this shot. Not even Shane, who wanted this so bad, to kill all the walkers. He doesn't make a move. Shane, though big and macho as he claimed, couldn't even bring himself to do what needed to be done.

Rick walks forward reluctantly, he pulls out his gun approaching Sophia. He raises the gun, cocking it, the grief and apprehension at this moment is almost more than he can bear, closing his eyes, he pulls the trigger.


	13. Nebraska

**Disclaimer - I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

Thank you to all of you who have followed or favored myself and my story. I would love some reviews, let me know of you guys are liking my character and my interpretation of the series.

xoxo Tiearney

* * *

After the shot no one moved, everyone was frozen in place. Phoenix turned around and gave Rick a mournful glance knowing what he was feeling. She watched as Titan trotted over to the girl's body and laid down placing his head on her back. She turned away and walked up to Shane who surprisingly didn't look as all mighty and confident as he had been five minutes earlier.

"That go how you planned it? Or did it sound better in yer head?"

The stare she gave him made Shane shiver. He had done the right thing, he knew he had. He had no idea Sophia was in there, he was right to kill them all to protect the group. But now as he heard Carol's mournful sobs, he wished he hadn't opened that door.

"Come on. Don't look. Don't look." Daryl told Carol as he drug her away from the scene, but the woman's gave couldn't be broken. He got her to her feet and she broke free of Daryl's hold and quickly fled the scene, being unable to bear with it. Sophia was all she'd had before and now she was gone. If it hadn't been for the soft connection made to Daryl, she wouldn't have made it this long without her little girl.

The scowl deepened on the Redneck's face as Carol left the safety of his arms to be alone. He turned his glaring eyes upon Hershel and Maggie as he nibbled at the inside of his bottom lip while he brought himself slowly to his feet. The frustration and anger that was coiled inside of him was starting to unravel. His walls were threatening to come crashing down. That little dam in the back of his mind that held back all of his emotions was cracking, but he had to be strong...

He gritted his teeth, his brows pulled together in anger as he quietly turned his back to the lot of them and stalked off after Carol. Daryl had no words for the woman. What could he say to her, after all? He couldn't even begin to apologize for all the times he had gotten her hopes up. Or how upset he had been with her for losing faith, when it was the most logical reasoning. All Daryl could offer was his presence. Go to Carol and sit with her in silence to show her that he was there for her and that he was sorry. That if she needed him, all she had to do was turn and he would be there. So that's what he did. Daryl stationed himself on the counter inside the RV as he sat in silence. Carol acknowledged his presence by looking at him as he came in, but she seemed indifferent as she quickly gazed elsewhere, staring out of the window to the scenery outside. Her cheeks were stained with the tears that had been shed, but she had seemed to silence herself of sobbing by now...

Beth was sobbing as well as she looked over the fallen bodies of her loved ones. Beth shoved her way past Rick and Shane over to a woman's body pinned under another's. Pulling the body on top off, she rolled the woman's body over. "Ma."

Suddenly the walker reached out grabbing Beth's hair, snarling as it tried to tear her apart. The rest of the group runs to her aid, Rick and Shane pull her away while T-Dog and Phoenix fight to hold the walker down. Andrea grabs a scythe from beside the barn and swings it sending the blade through the back of the head and the tip sticking out the front.

* * *

Hershel and his family head back towards the house trying to put this behind them.

But Shane just can't let it go, "We've been out. We've been combing these woods looking for her and she was in there all along? You knew."

"Leave us alone." Maggie warns him.

Rick grabs Shane to stop him but he throws Rick off, "Get your hands off me. You knew and you kept it from us."

"I didn't know," Hershel assures him as they reach the house.

"That's bullshit. I think y'all knew."

"We didn't know!" Maggie screams at him.

"Why was she there?!" Shane badgers.

"Your—" Hershel stutters. "Otis put those people in the barn. Maybe he found her and put her in there before he was killed."

"You expect me to believe that? I look like an idiot?" Shane asks him.

"Shane, hey, hey, hey." Rick says stepping in between the two men.

"I don't care what you believe!" Hershel yells his arms open wide.

"Everybody just calm down." Rick tells them.

"Get him off my land!"

"Please no," Rick says.

"Let me tell you something." Shane says advancing on the old man.

"Hey. Don't touch him!" Maggie yells slapping Shane across the face. "Haven't you done enough." The family heads inside the front door, Hershel turns back to them, "I mean it—off my land."

Glenn sighs following his girlfriend inside, as Rick and Phoenix give Shane a look.

"What are you doing?" Rick asks his friend. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"Daryl almost died looking for her, Rick."

"Yeah, like you give a flyin' fuck bout Daryl." Phoenix scoffs eyeing the man, she stands back letting the two sort this out.

Shane ignores her, "Any one of us could have. I'm gonna tell you right now—that son-of-a-bitch, he knew."

"He didn't know. He's not like that. He opened his home to us."

"Put us all in danger, man. He kept a barn full of walkers."

"So you just start an insurrection, hand out guns and massacre his family?"

"His family is dead, Rick."

"Well, he doesn't believe that. He thinks you just murdered them in cold blood."

"No, man, I don't care what he thinks. Why would I care…"

"I was handling it, brother. I was handling it and you just—"

"You had us out in those woods looking for a little girl that every single one of us knew was dead! That's what you did. Rick, you're just as delusional as that guy." Shane snorts. "You were handling it, huh?"

* * *

Down at the barn Andrea lays a blanket over Sophia's body. She stands up to find Phoenix behind her, the woman holds up her hands, "I'm not here for a fight Andrea. I'm here to apologize, for—" Phoenix motions to the woman's lip. "I was out of line. I shouldn't have hit you."

Andrea shakes her head, "You care about him I get it. I would've to if it was—"

"Shane?"

Andrea looks up with a shocked look, "How did you?"

Phoenix shrugs, "Women's intuition. Besides I don't care about Daryl like that. He's part of the group, I would've done it for anyone."

The two women nod, "Just, be careful around Shane, he's a lil bit of a loose cannon and there's somethin' about him that's off. Just lookin' out for ya."

"Okay, thanks."

Phoenix nods before she heads back up to the campsite. She sees Daryl going inside the RV to check on Carol.

Daryl worries his lip and cheek as he sets down on the counter next to the door. Carol looks up at him with a grim smile then stares back out of the window.

Phoenix puts her rifle in her truck, leaving her Kukris on her back. She heads down towards the barn saying hi to Dale and Carl who are on their way towards the house. She stops next to Lori as they survey the bodies.

"You want us to start burying Rick?" T-Dog asks their leader.

"We need a service. Carol would want that." Andrea says earning a nod from Phoenix, the two women now held an understanding for the other.

"Yeah, we all want that." T-Dog agrees.

Rick seems at a loss for words as does everyone else, so Lori speaks up. "Let's, um—let's dig a grave for Sophia, and Annette and Shawn…" She surveys the view. "Uh, over by those trees." She points over towards the left side of the barn.

"And we'll need a truck to move the bodies." Phoenix adds matching Lori's look.

Jimmy starts for the house, "I'll get the keys."

Shane stops him, "No, no. I got the truck."

"And the others?" Jimmy says looking around. "That's a lot of digging."

"We bury the ones we love and burn the rest." Andrea tells him.

"Let's get to work," Phoenix says stepping over to the bodies.

Shane, Andrea, Phoenix, T-Dog and Jimmy busy themselves digging the three graves, while Lori collects rocks for the headstones.

"Phoenix will you…" Lori motions to the Rv. The woman nods walking back up to the motorhome. She knocks on the door noticing Daryl in sitting on the counter.

He glances at the door and instantly turns away when he sees it's her. She rolls her eyes, stepping inside addressing Carol. "They're ready." Phoenix had said, but Carol acted as if she had not heard a word.

Carol shakes her head no, Phoenix encourages her, "Come on."

Carol shook her head before asking, "Why?"

Daryl spoke softly as he answered for Phoenix, "Cause that's your lil girl."

She looks up, "That's not my little girl." She paused as she struggled to add, "That's some other… thing." Daryl seemed taken back by these words, but remained silent as she averted her eyes from him to gaze out the window again. "My Sophia was alone in the woods..." Her voice quivered slightly as she stated this, and Daryl's heart sank. He lowered his head, his brows pulling together slightly as that horrible feeling of guilt started to twist itself in knots in his stomach again. "All this time, I thought—She didn't cry herself to sleep. She didn't go hungry. She didn't try to find her way back..."

Daryl's head lifted, his eyes peering over at Carol as he clenched his jaw shut tight. His brows arched upward ever so slightly as the pain he felt deep inside revealed itself for half a moment upon his features, before quickly vanishing. All of the pain, the loss...the suffering. Every single night. Every single day. Every second. Every waking moment Daryl had spent searching for this child. This innocent little girl that had had so much life ahead of her. And even though it was not even Daryl's fault in the slightest, he still felt completely responsible. Despite having already been mentally kicking himself in the teeth over this, Carol had to add in one last statement that was the final straw.

"Sophia died a long time ago."

Daryl's dam had broken. All of which he had worked so hard to build up came crashing down in a powerful tsunami. All the time and effort he had spent in proving to be a greater man and reaching out to someone had been shot to shit. Wasteful. Pointless. Daryl stared after Carol intensely, his expression stiff as it took everything in him not to completely pop off on her. To thrash and hurl things about. To scream at her and tell her how much of a worthless mother she was! How pathetic and weak she had been!

Instead all Daryl did was turn his head from her, his eyes avoiding any contact from anyone because he did not want them to see the pain that they bore. He quickly slid himself off of the counter and moved towards the door, his head turning to get one last glance of the grieving mother, before bitterly turning his back to her, with no intentions of ever looking upon her face again. He strolled past Phoenix, his pace quick as he made his way back to the barn, where he fully intended on being at the funeral that would be given. Phoenix nodded stepping out of the doorway and walking back over to the graves.

* * *

The funeral was... grueling, to say the least. Phoenix's own emotions and inner turmoil was welling to the surface, though she did her best not to let anybody see. This whole scenario reminded her painfully of her family, whom she missed so very much. She stood apart from the group, keeping as much distance between herself and Daryl for the time. But much to her annoyance, she could hardly peel her eyes from him for a second.

Even with what little time she had known and acknowledged Daryl's existence, she had come to recognize those little... quirks of emotion he tried so hard to ignore. There was an innocence about him that seemed to tug her in... a mysterious "other side" that she had an overwhelming urge to see more of. Perhaps just to know that someone else who seemed so much like her was... just as human as her.

* * *

After the service everyone went their separate ways. After the funeral had finished, Daryl reverted back to his old ways. He quickly disassembled his tent and moved his lone-wolf ass as far away from the Greene's home as possible, finding himself a nice quiet spot off in the fields. Once his own private camp had been set up, the Redneck made it an interest of his to start making new bolts for his crossbow. The last time he had used it he had one left and that wasn't going to do anybody any good. In order to start working on such a tedious task, Daryl had to find himself sticks that were suitable enough to serve as an arrow. So, off he went to gather wood for his bow and for his campfire later.

Phoenix finally headed into the woods carrying her bow, within ten minutes of pain and realizing she couldn't pull the string back, she gave up and headed back to the house.

When she arrived she found Rick and Glenn by the Cherokee loading their guns. Rick turned when he noticed her walking up, "Oh, great Phoenix. We're going to town to find Hershel he took off. Since you seem to have a good rapport with him, would you come along? Please. Plus you got the quiet weapon."

She nodded, "Sure, let me grab a few more arrows." She wanted to ask why he didn't ask Daryl to come along since he had a bow, but she realized after looking around that he was nowhere to be found.

She grabbed 6 extra arrows and put them in her quiver, like Daryl's crossbow her quiver was attached to her bow. She headed back over and got into the back seat, studying Rick's face as he watched Glenn say goodbye to Maggie.

* * *

The ride into the town was a silent one, until all of a sudden Glenn blurts out, "Maggie said she loves me." The two other give him a glance, to which he smiles and laughs. "She doesn't mean it. I mean, she can't. I mean, why… She's upset or confused. She's probably feeling, like-"

"I think she's smart enough to know what she's feeling." Rick tells the young kid.

"No. No."

Rick laughs and Phoenix smirks in the back, poor Glenn, he has no idea how much Maggie cares for him.

"You know, she wants to be in love, so she needs something to, to, like, hold onto."

Phoenix peeks up between the seats, "Glenn, it's pretty obvious to everyone Maggie loves you, and not just because you're one of the last men standing. So what's the problem?"

"I didn't say it back. Huh, I've never had a woman say that to me before, you know, except my mom, of course and my sisters. But with Maggie, it's different. I mean, we barely know each other. What does she really know about me? Nothing. We're practically strangers. But I didn't know what to do with it. I just stood there like a jerk."

"Hey. Hey, this is a good thing. Something we don't get enough of these days. Enjoy it. And when we get back, return the favor. It's not like she's going anywhere."

They pull up outside of the saloon, Glenn turns to the older man, "Rick. I know about Lori, her being pregnant. I got her those pills."

"I figured."

They each get out moving to the left side of the car, "Hey, I'm sorry I kept it from you."

"Don't be. You did what you thought was right. It just so happens it wasn't."

* * *

Back on the farm Lori is getting worried about Beth's condition, they need Hershel, so Lori goes in search of someone to help.

Well away from the house, Daryl had begun prepping the sticks and smoothing them out with his hunting knife.

"Moving to the suburbs?" She asks as she approaches him. "Listen, Beth's in some kind of catatonic shock. We need Hershel."

Daryl doesn't even look up from his carving, "Yeah. So what?"

"So I need you to run into town real quick and bring him and Rick back."

The hunter says nothing, just keeps making his new arrows. "Daryl?"

He glances over at her, he can't believe she had the nerve of coming to him, disturbing his serenity-setup, "Yer bitch went window-shopping. You want him? Fetch him yourself. I got better things to do."

"What's the matter with you? Why would you be so selfish?"

Daryl's head jerks up, he gives her a hard look as he stands up. This was the absolute worst thing she could have said to him. Selfish? HIM? Daryl resisted from his desire to slit the dumb bitch's throat there as he jumped to his feet and waved his hunting knife at her as he yelled at her, as if this would further make his point. "Selfish? Listen to me, Olive Oyl. I was out there looking for that lil girl every single day. I took a bullet and an arrow in the process. Don't you tell me about me gettin' my hands dirty! You want those two idiots? Have a nice ride. I'm done looking for people."

He sits back down and goes back to work. Lori sighs, "Well, Phoenix went with them, I thought you'd care about her. My mistake." She turns and storms back to the house.

Behind her Daryl stops his carving and looks up watching her go. He didn't care about Phoenix … at all.

* * *

Rick, Glenn and Phoenix enter the bar, they find Hershel sitting at the bar farthest from them, his back to the door.

"Hershel." Rick says trying to get his attention.

"Who's with you?"

"Glenn and Phoenix."

Hershel chuckles, "Maggie send him?"

"He volunteered. They both did. They're good like that." Rick walks over to his left side, while Phoenix jumps up on the counter on his right eyeing the elder man. "How many have you had?"

"Not enough."

"Let's finish this up back at home." Rick suggests. "Beth collapsed, is in some sort of state. Must be in shock. I think you are, too."

"Phoenix could've taken care of her, she's an EMT. Maggie's with her?"

"Yes, I could've, but Beth needs you, Hershel." Phoenix smiles.

"What could I do? She needs her mother. Or rather to mourn… like she should've done weeks ago. I robbed her of that. I see that now."

""You thought there was a cure." Rick tells him. "Can't blame yourself for holding out for hope."

"Hope?" Hershel smiles looking up at Rick. "When I first saw you running across my field with your boy in your arms, I had little hope he would survive."

"But he did."

"He did. Even though we lost Otis. Your man Shane made it back and we saved your boy. And this beautiful woman right here." He smiled rubbing Phoenix's knee, she smiled back. "That was the miracle that proved to me miracles do exist. Only it was a sham, a bait and switch. I was fool Rick. And you people saw that. My daughters deserve better than that." He takes the last drink from his glass and grabs the bottle, filling it up again.

The two men stand by the doors, seeing it getting dark outside, Glenn turns to Rick. "So what do we do? Just wait for him to pass out?"

"Just go." Hershel tells them. "Just go!"

"I promised Maggie I'd bring you home safe." Rick says.

Hershel chuckles, "Like you promised that little girl?"

Phoenix watches Rick's face fall, knowing that struck a nerve. But instead of letting it get to him Rick turns his anger on Hershel. "So what's your plan? Finish that bottle? Drink yourself to death and leave your girls alone?"

That struck a nerve as Hershel stood up and faced Rick. "Stop telling me how to care for my family, my farm. You people are like a plague! I do the Christian thing, give you shelter, and you destroy it all!"

"The world was already in bad shape when we met."

"And you take no responsibility! You're supposed to be their leader!"

"Well, I'm here now, aren't I?"

The two men stand toe-to-toe, both breathing heavily. Hershel sighs, "Yes. Yes. Yes, you are." The elder man goes and sits back down on his stool.

Rick approaches him again, "Come on. Your girls need you now more than ever." He tries to grab Hershel's arm but the elder man yanks it from his grasp.

"I didn't want to believe you. You told me there was no cure, that these people were dead, not sick. I chose not to believe that. But when Shane shot Lou in the chest and she just kept coming, that's when I knew what an ass I'd been, that Annette had been dead long ago and I was feeding her rotting corpse! That's when I knew there was no hope. And when that little girl came out of the barn, the look on your face—I knew you knew it, too. Right? There is no hope. And you know it now, like I do. Don't you?"

Rick looks away as Hershel tells him, "There is no hope for any of us."

"Look, I'm done. I'm not doing this anymore, cleaning up after you. You know what the truth is? Nothing has changed. Death is death. It's always been there, whether it's from a heart attack, cancer, or a walker. What's the difference? You didn't think it was hopeless before, did you? And now there are people back at home trying to hang on and they need us, even if it's just to give them a reason to go on, even if we don't believe it ourselves. You know what? This isn't about what we believe anymore. It's about them."

Phoenix could see that what Rick had said, had gotten through to Hershel. The elder man drank what was left in his glass, set it down and turned to leave when the door opened. The four of them froze seeing two men walk into the bar both holding guns.

"Son-of-a-bitch. They're alive."

* * *

The four of them stayed where they were, Rick stood in front of the bar, Glenn behind it, Hershel sat in the corner next to Phoenix who was sitting on top of it, her bow loaded in her hands.

The smaller fellow sat down at the table in front of them, Rick poured him a shot. "I'm Dave. That scrawny-looking douche bag there is Tony." He motioned to the extremely fat man sitting at the bar behind Hershel.

The man chuckles, "Eat me, Dave."

"Hey, maybe someday I will. We met on I-95 coming out of Philly. Damn shit-show that was."

"I'm Glenn. It's nice to meet some new people."

"Rick Grimes." The cop says as he sets the bottle back on the bar and hands a shot to the fat man.

"How bout you, pal? Have one?" Dave motions to Hershel.

"I just quit."

"You've got a unique sense of timing, my friend. How bout you gorgeous? Don't see many women these days, especially not one looking like you."

Phoenix glared at the man, knowing exactly what he was thinking as he looked her over, her hand tightened on her bow and Rick chose that moment to step in.

"His name's Hershel. He lost people today, a lot of them. That's Phoenix, my daughter." The young woman glanced at him with a smile, she knew he was making a point of saying she was off limits.

"I'm truly sorry to hear that." Dave said glancing at Hershel. "To better days and new friends. And to our dead—may they be in a better place." He held up his glass downing the shot along with Tony and Glenn. He set the glass down and turned back to the group, he pulled a hand-gun from the back of his waistband. "Not bad huh? I got it off a cop."

"I'm a cop."

"This one was already dead."

"You fellas are a long way from Philadelphia." Rick says sitting down on the stool, securing Phoenix between he and Hershel.

"It feels like we're a long way from anywhere."

"What drove you south?"

"Well, I can tell you it wasn't the weather. I must've dropped 30 pounds in sweat alone down here."

"I wish." Tony quips.

"No, first it was DC. I heard there night be some kind of refugee camp, but the roads were so jammed, we never even got close. We decided to get off the highways, into the sticks, keep hauling ass. Every group we came across had a new rumor about a way out of this thing."

"One guy told us there was a Coast Guard center in the Gulf, sending ferries to the islands." Tony tells them.

"The latest was a rail yard in Montgomery running trains to the middle of the country—Kansas, Nebraska."

"Nebraska?" Glenn scoffs.

"Low population, lots of guns." Tony replies.

"Kinda makes sense." Glenn retorts.

"You ever been to Nebraska, kid?" Dave asks him. "The reason they call 'em flyover states."

They all share a laugh, Rick takes another sip off his shot. Phoenix sees the way the two men glance at one another, before they again address Rick, it sets her on edge even more.

"How about you guys?"

"Fort Benning, eventually."

"I hate to piss in your cornflakes, officer, but um… we ran across a grunt who was stationed at Benning. He said the place was overrun by lamebrains."

"Wait, Fort Benning is gone? Are you for real?" Glenn asks not believing it.

"Sadly, I am. Ugly truth is there is no way out of this mess. Just keep going from one pipe dream to the next, praying one of these mindless freaks doesn't grab ahold of you when you sleep."

"If you sleep," Tony adds.

"Yeah, it doesn't look like you guys are hanging your hats here. You, you hold up somewhere else?"

"I fuckin' knew it," Phoenix muttered as she glanced to Hershel.

Rick doesn't answer right away, "Not really."

"Those your cars out front?"

"Yeah, why?" Glenn asks.

"We're living in ours. Those look kinda empty, clean. Where's all your gear?"

"We're with a larger group." Hershel says. "Out scouting, thought we could use a drink."

"A drink? Hershel, I thought you quit. Well, we're thinking of setting up around here. Is it safe?"

"It can be." Glenn says. "Although I have killed a couple of walkers around here."

"Walkers? That what you call them?"

"Yeah," Glenn chuckles.

"That's good. I like that. I like that better than lamebrains."

"More succinct," Tony adds.

"Okay, Tony went to college." Dave says of the man's words.

"Two years."

The room gets silent for a moment before Dave speaks again. "So what—so what, you guys set up on the outskirts or something? That new development?"

"Trailer park or something?" Tony gets up walking over to the wall past Glenn.

"A farm?" Dave adds before singing the nursery rhyme. "You on a farm?"

"E-I-E-I-O." Tony sings as he pisses in the corner. "Is it safe? It's gotta be?"

"You got food, water?" Dave asks.

"You got cooze?" Tony says with a smile looking Phoenix up and down. "Ain't had a piece of ass in weeks."

"I will shoot you in yer fuckin' dick if you look at me again." She snarls tightening her grip on her bow.

"Listen, pardon my friend." Dave says looking to Phoenix. "City kids—they got no tact. No disrespect. So listen, Glenn—"

"We've said enough." Rick intervenes.

"Well, hang on a second. This farm, it sounds pretty sweet. Don't it sound sweet, Tony?"

"Yeah, real sweet."

"How about a little southern hospitality? We got some buddies back at camp, been having a real hard time. I don't see why you can't make room for a few more. We could pool our resources, our manpower."

"Look, I'm sorry. That's not an option." Rick states.

"Doesn't sound like it'd be a problem."

"I'm sorry. We can't." Hershel adds.

"We can't take in any more."

Dave chuckles, "You guys are something else. I thought—I thought we were friends."

"You thought wrong," Phoenix states vehemently.

Dave stares at her, "We got people we gotta look out for, too."

"We don't know anything about you." Rick reminds them.

"No, that's true. You don't know anything about us. You don't know what we've had to go through out there. The things we've had to do." Dave glances over at Phoenix and she knows what he's meaning. The look she gives him is icy and says 'Try it, I dare you.' He sighs, "I bet you've had to do some of those same things yourself. Am I right?" No one says anything, so he continues. "Cause ain't nobody's hands clean in what's left of this world. We're all the same. So come on, let's—let's take a nice friendly hayride to this farm and we'll get to know each other."

Rick tosses up his hand, "That's not gonna happen."

"Rick—" Dave starts but he's interrupted by Tony, "This is bullshit."

"Calm down." Rick tells him.

Tony gets pissed, "Don't tell me to calm down. Don't ever tell me to calm down."

"Whoa." Dave tells his buddy, but Tony keeps going, "I'll shoot you three assholes in the head, take your girl and take your damn farm!"

Rick stands up prepared to fight, but Dave stands up too, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Relax. Take it easy. Nobody's killing anybody. Nobody's shooting anybody. Right, Rick?" He climbs over to the other side of the bar to his right. He looks at Rick laying his gun on the bar. "We're just friends having a drink. That's all. Now, where's the good stuff, huh?" He slaps his hands together, "Good stuff, good stuff, good stuff. Let's see."

He leans down to look under the bar and Rick grabs his gun in the holster, but doesn't remove it. He looks over at Phoenix, she taps her finger on the bow shifting her eyes to Tony. Rick nods knowing she's onto his plan, should it come down to it.

"Look at that. That'll work." He stands up holding a bottle of whiskey. He sighs opening it and pouring a shot. "You gotta understand—we can't stay out there. You know what it's like."

"Yeah I do." Rick tells him. "But the farm is too crowded as is. I'm sorry. You'll have to keep looking."

"Keep looking." Dave glances down. "Where do you suggest we do that?"

"I don't know. I hear Nebraska's nice."

Dave laughs, "Nebraska. This guy."

In the split second it takes Dave to reach for his gun, Rick pulls his gun shooting him in the head. As soon as Phoenix sees Rick's hand twitch she holds up her bow firing an arrow into Tony's eye-socket. Glenn and Hershel eye the two as Phoenix collects her bolt and Rick holsters his gun.


	14. Triggerfinger

**Disclaimer - I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

Thank you to all of you who have followed or favored myself and my story. I would love some reviews, let me know of you guys are liking my character and my interpretation of the series.

xoxo Tiearney

* * *

"Holy shit," Glenn says looking at the arrow sticking out of Tony's head.

"You all right?" Rick asks him as Phoenix pulls her arrow out wiping it on the man's chest.

"Yeah."

"Hershel?"

The old man simply nods not knowing what to say at the moment, he nods again knowing the two did what they had to, to keep the farm safe. "Let's head back."

Phoenix grabs her shoulder gently, she didn't even notice the pain in it until now. She hadn't even thought before she let that arrow fly, her friends were in trouble so she did what needed to be done. But now the pain was setting in and her shoulder was on fire.

By now night has fallen, as Rick bends down picking up the shotgun and checking Tony's pockets where he finds a few shotgun shells. Glenn walks past the other body picking up the hand-gun. Suddenly lights are seen outside, Rick whispers to them, "Car, car. Get down."

The three of them move to the front wall, Phoenix and Rick kneeling by the left side of the doors, Glenn next to the right side and Hershel on the other side of the window next to Glenn. The car pulls up out right outside of the bar, the doors open and close. They can hear men outside talking, looking for their two friends, saying they heard shots come from over here. They sit there for what seems like eternity, there's no sound from the men outside, but the car is still there. Rick stands up looking out the window, he sees nothing out there. He kneels shuffling low on the floor over to the other two, Phoenix behind him.

"Why won't they leave?" Glenn whispers.

"Would you?" Hershel asks.

"We can't sit here any longer," Phoenix tells them.

"Let's head out the back and make a run to the car." Rick suggests.

They all stand up t go but hear gunshots outside and quickly sit back down. The guys come back around the front of the bar and head for the front doors. Rick cocks his gun and Phoenix grabs both of hers doing the same, she went and grabbed them from Hershel's room when Rick asked her to come to town. Glenn jumps in front of the doors as the men try to open them. Rick gives him a look as the men outside get suspicious that there is someone in there. Rick fights with himself for a moment deciding what to do, he realizes he has no choice cause them guys are coming in one way or another.

"They drew on us!"

Hershel sighs looking at Rick with a wide-eyed gaze and Phoenix smacks her head back against the wall whispering, "Damn it, Rick!"

The footsteps get closer to the door, "Dave and Tony in there? They alive?"

Rick shakes his head wondering how to say it without getting them killed. "No."

"They killed Dave and Tony," the first one says.

"Let's go," another tells him.

"No, I'm not going back and telling Jane that Dave and Tony got shot by some assholes in a bar."

"Your friends drew on us! They gave us no choice!" Rick yells. "I'm sure we've all lost enough people, done things we wish we didn't have to, but it's like that now. You know that! So let's just chalk this up to what it was—wrong place, wrong—"

Suddenly bullets rip through the glass in the doors and windows. Rick stands up yelling to the rest as he fires out the window, "Get out of here! Go!"

The three of them stay low heading for the back of the bar. Glenn makes it halfway, taking cover behind the piano. Hershel slides him a shotgun, he takes it hesitantly.

* * *

Back at the farm, everyone is looking for Lori who disappeared that afternoon. Carol runs out to where Daryl is camping to ask for his help. "We can't find Lori. And the others aren't back yet either."

"That dumb bitch must've gone off lookin' for 'em."

"What?"

"Yeah, she asked me to go. I told her I was done being an errand boy."

"And you didn't say anything?"

He doesn't answer, so Carol starts to walk away, but then pauses and walks back to the fire where he sits. "Don't do this. Please. I've already lost my girl."

Daryl stands up, "Yeah, that wasn't my problem neither." He walks off and Carol heads back to the others to tell them where Lori went.

* * *

Back in the bar Rick is reloading his gun trying to reason with the men outside. "Hey! We all know this is not gonna end well! There's nothing in it for any of us! You guys just—just back off, no one else gets hurt!"

They hear garbage cans rattle from out back, Rick nods his head for Glenn to go check it out. He gets up running quickly to the rear door, he opens it slowly peeking into the storage room. He sees and hears nothing except the creak of the stairs as he walks down them. He hears someone cuss outside the back door, sees their silhouette and then the doorknob turns. He does the only thing he can think of and fires through the glass window.

"Glenn! Glenn!" Rick yells as they all head to the back.

"I—I 'm all right. I'm all right." Glenn tells them.

"I'll hold 'em here. You two cover Glenn. See if he can make it to your car. Tell him—tell him to pull up back. We'll run for it, get the hell out of here."

"You want me to cover Glenn?" Hershel asks him.

"You missed all that gun training. It could've come in handy now." Rick tells him.

"No, I can shoot. I just don't like to."

The two of them head back to cover Glenn, who points his gun at them as they approach. The two hold their hands up, he exhales lowering the weapon, "Sorry. Sorry."

"Rick wants you to try for the car." Hershel tells him, his face falls. "Try?"

"You'll try and succeed." Phoenix says. "We'll cover you."

"That's a great plan." He purses his lips before he moves to the door. He opens both of the doors, looking out the left then right sides. He eases out the doors and moves down the right side of the alley. Phoenix sees a man coming up from the left, "Glenn get down!" The man fires, Phoenix pegs one round into his chest knocking him down, he lays on the ground moaning in pain.

Rick runs up behind them, "What happened?"

"He fired," Hershel tells him. "He must have hit Glenn. He's behind the dumpster. Doesn't look like he's moving."

The man Phoenix shot is on the ground calling for help. Rick moves down the alley towards Glenn whispering, "You hit? Are you hit?"

The kid is huddled behind the dumpster looking scared to death. "No. No."

Rick moves over beside him, "It's all right. The car's right there. We're almost home. You good?"

Glenn nods, "I'm good."

The two of them move towards the car, only to be pushed back by gunshots. Over on the roof of the Pharmacy is a kid with a rifle. A truck pulls up below him, the driver screaming that roamers are all over they needed to leave now. The kid jumps down to the roof next to him and falls down into the alley, screaming.

"Dude didn't make it." Glenn says as the truck speeds off without the kid.

"Get Hershel." Rick tells Glenn as he heads over to the screaming kid, Phoenix behind him.

The old man makes it over to Glenn, "The gunfire must've attracted the walkers. Where's Rick and Phoenix?"

"They ran across."

"Well, hell we can't go without them. Rick! Phoenix!"

* * *

They come over to find the kid from the roof sitting on top of a dumpster, the wrought iron tip of the fence pierced through his shin. The four of them spend the next minute arguing about saving the kid.

"Rick he just shot at us, tried to kill us. Leave the lil bastard here to die." Phoenix says, Glenn and Hershel backing her up.

"The fence went clean through, there's no way to get the leg off in one piece." Hershel explains.

The kid won't stop screaming, "Shut up! Shut up or I will shoot you!" Rick tells him.

Hershel pulls him away, "That may be the answer. We're not gonna get that leg off without tearing the muscle to shreds. He certainly can't run. He may bleed out."

"Maybe we should put him down." Rick looked at Phoenix like she was crazy.

Hershel shakes his head, "I don't want to see any more killing, but this is cruel."

"Can't we just take the leg off?" Glenn asks, which gets the kid to shut up.

"Sure," Phoenix says with a smile reaching over her head for her Kukris but finding nothing. "Fuck!" She says as she remembers she left them at the farm in her truck.

"That hatchet still in the car?" Rick asks Glenn amid the kid's protests. Rick pulls out his knife, "Will this sever the bone?"

"No." Phoenix growls snatching one of her hunting knives from her boot handing it to Hershel. "Here use mine. They'll cut through the bone like butter."

Hershel takes it, "I'll have to sever the ligaments below the kneecap, cut above the tibia. He's going to lose his lower leg. When we get clear of here, we're gonna have to find some tinder, cauterize the wound so he doesn't bleed out."

"All right, no choice. Hurry up." Rick says.

Rick tries to keep the kid quiet while Hershel cuts off the circulation in his leg so he doesn't bleed out. Walkers start coming from every direction, Glenn, Rick and Phoenix try to hold them back. Hershel tells him there isn't enough time and heads back towards the car with Glenn. Rick is still trying to keep the walkers from reaching the kid.

Phoenix sees that he's not gonna leave without this damn kid. "Oh, fuck! Rick I'ma kill you if we get outta this alive." She grabs the kid's leg and jerks it up off the iron post ignoring the kid's screams.

* * *

Back at the farm, Carol approaches Daryl's camp again. She surveys the squirrels he has hung on a string between two trees as well as the necklace of ears.

"What are you doin'?" He asks coming up behind her startling her.

"God. Keeping an eye on you."

"Ain't you a peach?" He comments condescendingly.

"I'm not gonna let you pull away. You've earned your place."

"If you spent half your time minding your daughter's business instead of sticking your nose in everybody else's, she'd still be alive!"

Carol doesn't falter, "Go ahead."

"Go ahead and what? Man, just go! I don't want you here! You're a real piece of work, lady. What, are you gonna make this about my daddy or some crap like that? Pfft! Man, you don't know jack. You're afraid. You're afraid cause you're all alone. You got no husband, no daughter. You don't know what to do with yourself. You ain't my problem! Sophia wasn't mine! All you had to do was keep an eye on her!"

Carol tilts her head as he lifts his hand up, he notices and backs up.

"Yeah." That was all Carol could say. Once he had finished the two came to an awkward silenced, which caused Daryl to turn his back to the woman once again, as he silently stalked off to disappear somewhere else.

* * *

The next day Daryl, Shane, T-Dog and Andrea are loading up to go look for the other three. They hear a car coming down the dirt road and look up to see Hershel's Suburban. They pull up to a stop in front of the house, everybody running out to greet them. Rick hugs Carl and Lori, Maggie runs out bypassing her dad to hug Glenn. Hershel heads towards the house, "Patricia, prepare the shed for surgery."

Phoenix gets out of the truck coming to face, surprisingly Daryl, "You aight?"

She nods, "Fine." She smirks as she glances back to the truck, "Can't say much for him."

"Who the hell is that?!" T-Dog asks.

"Randall." Glenn says.

Everyone looks in the truck at the kid, Shane gives a look to Rick.

* * *

Everyone meets inside to have a meeting. Phoenix is standing by the door listening when Daryl walks in standing next to her. Carol looks over at him and smiles before looking away. Phoenix nudges his shoulder, raising her eyebrows and looking between he and Carol with a smile, he rolls his eyes at her, but there is a ghost of a smile on his lips.

"Just gonna let him go? He knows where we are." Shane says bringing them back to the conversation.

"He was blindfolded the whole way here. He's not a threat." Rick says.

"Not a threat. How many of them were there? You killed three of their men, you took one of them hostage, but they just ain't gonna come looking for him?"

"I'm sorry Rick, but I'm with Shane. They're gonna come lookin' for him." Phoenix chimes in.

"They left him for dead. No one is looking." Rick tells them both.

"We should still post a guard." T-Dog offers.

"He's out cold right now, will be for hours." Hershel adds.

"You know I'm gonna go get him some flowers and candy." Shane scoffs heading for the door. "Look at this, folks—we back in fantasyland."

Hershel follows him, "You know, we haven't even dealt with what you did at my barn yet. Let me make this perfectly clear, once and for all—this is my farm. Now I wanted you gone. Rick talked me out of it, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. So do us both a favor—keep your mouth shut."

Shane shakes his head before storming out the door. Rick walks over to Hershel, "Look, we're not gonna do anything about it today. Let's just cool off."

Everybody takes off to do their own things.


	15. 18 Miles Out

**Disclaimer - I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

Thank you to all of you who have followed or favored myself and my story. I would love some reviews, let me know if you guys are liking my character and my interpretation of the series.

xoxo Tiearney

* * *

So after a week of healing they decide it's time to take the kid out and turn him loose.

Phoenix gets up putting on a pair of black Wrangler jeans, her brown boots, a green tank top and a three-quarter sleeve white western shirt. She's just finishing braiding her hair when Rick approaches her.

"Hey."

"Hey boss." She says with a smile.

"Look, I know we didn't see eye-to-eye on saving the kid and bringing him here. But thank you for still standing behind me."

"You're welcome. Rick, my problem wasn't with savin' the kid. I would save anybody I came across if I could. My problem is his group. I have a really bad feelin' about all of this."

The two of the them meet up with Shane, they toss the kid in the back of Shane's car, blindfolded and wearing headphones attached to Phoenix's iPod blasting loud rock music. They head towards town, the agreement is to take him 18 miles out and turn him loose.

At a four way stop, Rick stops the car and gets out, Shane follows him. Phoenix opens her door and stands outside leaning against the back of the car enjoying the fresh air. The two men walk out a little ways ahead of the car, their close enough for her to still hear them, so she stays on alert, her gun ready to back up Rick if needed.

"I thought we were going further." Shane asks.

"We are. 18 miles out."

"So why are we stopping?"

"I wanted to talk. Been waiting a week till we were gonna do this. I just want to talk."

"We don't need to."

"We do."

"No, man, we don't. We're doing this. I get it. He was passed out when y'all brought him back, doesn't know where the farm is."

"That isn't what I need to talk to you about." There's a long pregnant pause before Rick speaks again. "I heard what really happened at the school." Rick sighs. "Was it to survive?"

Shane doesn't speak for a while, he licks his lips thinking. "Yeah. One of us wasn't gonna make it out. It had to be him. One shot to the leg, Carl lives. Reality is… he had no business being here. Or there. Whatever."

"You don't think I would've done it?"

"No, man, I know you wouldn't have."

"You don't think I can keep Lori or Carl safe?"

"I didn't say that."

"Or my baby? Is it gonna have to be me, too?"

"Rick, you can't just be the good guy and expect to live. Okay? Not anymore."

"I'm not the good guy anymore. To save Carl's life, I would've done anything. Anything. Now Lori says you're dangerous, but you're not gonna be dangerous. Not to us, not to me, not anymore."

Shane stares at the ground, Rick sighs, "How about you look at me?" Shane looks up meeting Rick's eyes. "You and Lori—I get what happened. When I figured it out—and I figured it out pretty quickly—I wanted to break your jaw, let you choke on your teeth. But I didn't. That wasn't weakness. It took everything. That is my wife. That is my son. That is my unborn child. I will stay alive to keep them alive. You don't love her. You think you do, but you don't. Now the only way you and me keep on… is that you accept everything I just said right here, right now, and we move forward with that understanding."

The two of them nod, Rick heads back towards the car, stopping when Shane starts to talk. "When it started, it was just—it was a couple of weird stories on the news. Then it was so quick. Everything—it just happened. Two weeks later I'm in the hospital and there were soldiers shooting people in the halls. They were shooting people, man, not walkers. Then the walkers came through. You know, I tried to get you out. I tried, but we weren't gonna make it. Man, there was no way and I knew it. But I couldn't live with it. I couldn't live, knowing—but I had to. I didn't keep Lori and Carl alive, man. They kept me alive. I want you to know that I didn't look at her before that. Brother, if I could take it all back, I would."

"I wanna check the ropes." Rick says before going over to the back hatch with Phoenix.

Randall grunts as the bag is ripped off his head. He stares up at the three of them as they check to see the ropes are still tight. "It's all good." Rick says putting the bag back on.

They start out again, Shane staring out the passenger window.

"We've gotta start using our knives more." Rick says, "If there's one walker, we use our knives. We keep things quiet. We save ammunition. We need dry goods ahead of the winter—warm clothes, fuel. Maybe we get a break. You gotta think the cold effects them. If it doesn't kill 'em, its gotta slow 'em down. The second week of January last year, we got all that snow and ice. My cousin got stuck on 85 for 24 hours. Sitting in his car with a birthday cake for his girlfriend at Georgia Tech. He just sat and ate the birthday cake and listened to the "Lord of the Rings" book on tape. We get lucky, we get the same winter as last year. By December, it's a different world. Safer. Maybe we find some snowmobiles to make runs."

"Yeah, sounds good." Shane replies but his voice his hollow. He looks over at the mileage gauge noticing its at 18.7 and climbing. "It's more than 18."

"Yeah, I'm looking for a place."

"A place for what?"

"Give him a fair shake. A shot."

Phoenix can see the irritation on Shane's face, she rolls her eyes at his childish nature.

"There." Rick says pulling into the parking lot of the Mert County Department of Public Works. The three get out of the car surveying the landscape. The two men walk over to the fence. "This'll do. We'll leave the boy here, scavenge some supplies. Psst. Over there."

From around the backside of a bus comes a walker towards them, growling. Shane pulls out his hand-gun, cocking it.

"Wait," Rick tells him grabbing his knife. "Like I said." Rick cuts his finger, sliding the blood over the fence.

The walker drops to his knees licking the blood from the fence, Rick takes his knife plunging it through the walker's forehead.

"Gun's quick, easy, but other ways to do this. One more. Your turn."

Shane turns to see another walker coming up to the fence. He pulls out his knife, killing the walker. Afterwards they cut the lock on the fence, opening the gate up, the two head inside to check out the area while Phoenix stays with the prisoner.

They find the burned bodies of walkers, as well as two guards who became walkers, but not from a bite. They appear to have been turned from a scratch. After they return, Rick opens the gate and Shane drives the car inside the perimeter. They open the back and pull the kid out. They take him over two an open spot between a bus and a fire truck, putting him on his knees they yank the bag from his head. Then the tape from his mouth and from his ears that are holding the headphones in, as Phoenix pockets her iPod.

"What the hell is this?" The kid asks when he can see.

The three say nothing but head back to the car. "Oh, come on, don't be stupid." He calls after them. "I owe you guys. I can help protect what you've got. Why would you save my life just to kill me by leaving me here? One guy—one guy can't make it alone. That's why I was with those dudes—I was alone." Rick pulls out a spare knife, tossing it to the ground for the kid to retrieve and cut himself loose. "Don't be stupid! I'm not like them! I'm just some guy! I used to watch football and screw around on the internet. I lived with my mom! I lost her like you lost people. I went to school with Maggie, for God's sake!"

That made the three stop in their tracks, sharing a similar look of 'oh shit!' They turn around to stare at the boy as he pleads his case, which everything he's saying isn't helping him at this moment.

"I went to church. I rode the bench on varsity baseball."

They stride back over to the boy. "You went to school with Maggie?" Rick asks.

"Did you go to school with Maggie?" Shane reiterates before the kid can answer Rick.

"Answer the question!" Phoenix screams angrily. "Did you go to school with Maggie?!"

The kid backpedals realizing he said the wrong thing. "I—it—she didn't know me. Didn't know I existed. I mean, I knew her. I knew who her dad was."

The three of them walk away from the kid again, as he continues to plead. "I would never do anything to hurt her or her family."

"Jesus," Shane says rubbing his hands over his head in frustration.

"Or you! Or your people! I'm not like the guys I was with!"

Shane whispers to the two of them, "He knows where the farm is, Rick. Where we are. He knows. Say he finds his way back to his people…"

Shane pulls out his gun and turns firing a shot, but it's deflected by Rick who grabs Shane's hands. "Shane, no!" The bullet hits just to the left of the kid, Rick tosses Shane to the ground. "Not now. Just not now."

Shane sits up his back resting against the car behind him as he breaths deeply, "Well, when, Rick? When?"

Rick kicks Shane's gun away from him, "When I've had a chance to think about it."

"Don't let him kill me. Please, don't."

"Shut up!" Rick yells, angry evident in his voice.

Phoenix walks over to him, stopping his pacing. He looks up at her, confusion filling his face. "What do we do boss?"

"We're going back. It's a man's life. I need a night to think it through."

"You're gonna bring this piece of garbage—this piece of garbage who—he shot at you, Rick. He ran with men who tried to kill you. You gonna bring him back to where Lori sleeps? To where Carl sleeps?" Shane yells, his voice rising in volume with every word.

"He'll be locked up in the barn. Unless you bust it open." Rick says reminding him of the earlier incident.

Phoenix steps back letting these two figure this out, or duke it out if that's what it takes.

"Oh, don't start that shit."

"I'm taking the night."

"Man, you take that—you think on it, Rick. Keep—keep struggling with it. It ain't that hard, man. The right choice is the one that keeps us alive. It's always the same with you. It's like the first moment—it's whenever you're put to the test."

"Stop acting like you know the way ahead, like you know the rules. There are no rules, man. We're lost."

"No, no, no, man. I know exactly where I am."

"You don't know shit anymore."

"I don't think you can do it, Rick."

"It's my call."

"I don't think you can keep them safe."

Sure enough, the blows start. Rick swings at Shane but he grabs Rick's arm trapping it against his body. He punches Rick in the face and shoves him to the ground grabbing Rick's gun from it's holster. Rick knocks the gun from his hands, punching him across the face twice, before Shane grabs him close and slams him onto the truck lid of the car behind them. The two continue trading blows back and forth for a good five minutes.

Phoenix meanwhile is watching the kid crawl towards the knife on the ground. She contemplates letting him reach it, if only to teach these two grown men a lesson. They needed to quit their bitching and fighting like a couple of schoolgirls and focus on the problem at hand.

Shane grabs hold of the gun he dropped earlier, he raises it aiming at the kid. Rick tackles him at the last moment, which was a good thing as Phoenix had her gun drawn and ready to shoot Shane. The two of them fall to the ground still trading blows, until Rick gets the upper hand, hammering Shane with three hard blows to the face.

Rick stumbles to his feet, "You are not doing this! You don't get to make these calls anymore. I won't let you."

Shane picks up a large pipe wrench, used by firemen to open fire hydrants. He yells before throwing it at Rick, just barely missing him and smashing through the window behind Rick who drops to the ground on a pile of junk.

The three of them freeze as they hear the telltale sign of a walker growling. It breaks what's left of the window and falls out immediately going for Rick. He grabs it by the neck and wrestles it down into the pile, then stabs it in the head until it's dead. More walkers start growling tumbling out of the window. Rick pulls the dead walker's body on top of him masking his scent, it works as the walkers head straight for Shane.

* * *

Phoenix runs for the car but just as she gets the back door open, she feels something tearing at her hair. She turns to find a walker behind her, her braid wrapped around its long yellow nails. She knows it's too close for her rifle so she tosses it in the back seat and reaches for her knife in her boot, she didn't want to attract anymore. But every time she reached down towards her boot the walker got closer to her, she couldn't reach the knife without letting the living corpse close.

She kicked out her right leg, the satisfying sound of snapping bones greeted her ears as the walker fell to its knees, its left leg bent at an unnatural angle beneath it. Phoenix yelped as the grip on her hair intensified, the walker pulling her to the ground. She fell on top of the walker, its snapping teeth just next to her ear. She rolled off the body, clawing at the pavement trying to get away enough for some leverage. The walker grasps her left boot, it's too thick for the teeth to penetrate and too slick for it to really hold onto. Phoenix manages to knock the walker back enough for her to grab the knife in her right boot.

The walker throws its body weight down onto her, Phoenix braces the knife in her hands directly in front of her face. She closes her eyes as the sound of her knife piercing the skull of the walker assaults her ears. Then she feels the blood and brain matter spattering onto her face, she turns her head to the side to avoid it running into her nose or mouth. Using all her strength she rolls the walker's prone body off of her, she opens her eyes greeted by the sight of her knife hilt deep in the walkers eye socket like it was a sheath. She pulls out her bandana wiping some of the disgusting liquid from her face, then after pulling her knife from the skull she searches to find the others.

* * *

Shane meanwhile runs into an abandoned bus slamming the door shut behind him, the walker's crawling over one another to get to him.

Phoenix picks off as many as she can but they just seem to keep coming.

Rick finds himself trapped under the body of a walker he shot, now he has two more walkers trying to reach him and the only thing between them is a dead body. He shoots the second one in the head, it fall son top of him as well. The third Rick finds he can't shoot due to the fact that he can't get a shot of the walkers head and try to keep it from clawing him. Finally realizing his opening, he shoves his gun into the mouth of the walker on top of him and pulls the trigger three times, hitting the third walker in the head, it drops to the pile.

He rolls the three of them off of him and stands up looking for the other two.

Shane is fighting with all his strength to keep the door to the bus shut. He pulls out his knife, slicing the palm of his hand open he rubs the blood on the doorframe by the opening. "You want some of that?!" He slams his knife down in the head of a walker, killing it, the body thuds to the ground and Shane laughs. "Oh, shit."

Rick stands up coming to face the kid as he tries to run past him. "Stop!"

"Holy shit." The kid tries to run away but Rick is faster, grabbing him by the jacket collar, he wrestles him to the ground. "Where the hell do you think you're going?"

"What did you expect me to do? Please, just let me go, man. That's what you came here for. I'm not gonna tell anyone anything."

"Shut up." Rick grabs Shane's gun off the ground.

"You want to stay here? Help the guy that just tried to bash your head in?"

Rick looks to the bus, the thought of leaving Shane to die was tempting considering the circumstances.

"There's 10 roamers there. You think you can take that on?" The kid asks him. "They don't see us. We can get out of here." He sees Rick isn't gonna leave without Shane. "Fine. Fine! But let me have a gun. I'll help you. I'll show you."

"Let's go." Rick says moving towards the car. "He did this. We're going."

"Oh, thank you. Thank you."

Shane watches from inside as Rick takes off with the kid. He realizes that his best friend just left him there to die.

Phoenix is by the car as she sees Rick approach, "I tried to take them all out but I was attacked. I'm low on ammo and they just keep comin'." She sighs.

Rick nods understanding, "Are you okay? We're you bit?"

"No I'm fine, just covered in walker brain matter, no biggie."

Rick smirks at the grossed out look on her face as she wipes off more of the walkers liquid. He shoves the kid away from him, "Stay there." He looks down at the two bodies he and Shane were looking at earlier. He kneels down taking their guns and what ammo he can find on them. Suddenly a thought comes to his mind as he stares down at the bodies. His gaze turns to Phoenix and her eyes shift back between the dead cops, it suddenly comes to her what Rick is thinking. She nods to him letting him know she's on board.

* * *

Shane kills another walker but as it falls, his knife gets stuck in the walkers skull and he loses it. Suddenly he hears someone yell his name, he looks out the windshield to see Rick and Phoenix leaning out the car windows as the kid drives the car. The two of them open fire on the walkers, Rick yelling out, "Shane! Go for the back door!"

Shane gives a smile and runs for the back door of the bus, he kicks it open and jumps through the open window of the car into the backseat with Phoenix. The kid backs up smashing a walker's head, then floors it breaking out of the locked gate and speeding down the road.

"Whoo. Yeah. Hell yeah. You see that? You see what we did?" The kid shrieks in joy as he drives."

"Just keep driving," Rick says his gun in his hand ready to use.

They stop down the road a ways, Phoenix places the iPod back in the kid's ears, Shane gags him and Rick drags him to the back of the car. He shoves him inside the back and bags his head once again, not taking chances. The three of them stand at the back of the car panting.

Rick turns to his friend, "If you want to kill me, you're gonna have to do better than a wrench. Probably gonna have to kill that boy. But I am gonna think about it a night. It can't be that easy, killing someone, killing anyone. You know that." There's a pregnant pause before Rick speaks again. "That is my wife. That is my son. That is my child. If you're gonna be with us, you gotta follow my lead, you gotta trust me." Another long pause, "It's time for you to come back." Rick hands Shane is gun as a show of trust. The three of them get back in the car heading back for the farm.

Phoenix wishes now she had been sitting on the right side of the car, maybe then she'd have seen what Shane saw. Maybe then she could have said something, instead of Shane keeping silent. Maybe she could've prevented the horror that was headed their way.


	16. Judge, Jury & Executioner

**Disclaimer - I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

Thank you to all of you who have followed or favored myself and my story. I would love some reviews, let me know if you guys are liking my character and my interpretation of the series.

**lilnightmare17** - Thanks for your review and at your request here is the next chapter.

xoxo Tiearney

* * *

Phoenix stands in the back corner of the small shed on Hershel's property. They decided it was time to get some information out of the kid before they could fully decide what to do with him. So of course they sent Daryl in, and Phoenix to stand watch, make sure the hunter didn't kill the kid. Phoenix laughed as she thought about being asked to make sure he didn't kill the kid, when in reality she was the one they should have been worried about. This kid being here put everyone in danger and she knew if his crew came looking for him, it would be very bad for their group.

But she trusted Rick, so for the time being she stood in the corner by the door watching Daryl beat the kid to a pulp, which internally made her smile.

Right off the bat Daryl didn't like Randall. Something in his gut told him that this kid was no good and that not much better could be said about the group he came from. His intuition, he found, was dead on as he was given the task of interrogating the little bastard. Daryl was out in the shed with Phoenix for several hours as he worked to pry and dig for answers. For a majority of the duration, Randall had done nothing but waste Daryl's time, causing the redneck to grow agitated. His patience was running out.

This time when Daryl hit the kid he knocked the kid right off the chair sending him to the ground. He continued to hammer him with right crosses, the kid trying to catch his breath in between spiting out his teeth, figuratively of course.

"I told you—"

"You ain't told me shit!" He grabbed the kid setting him upright against the wall.

"I barely knew those guys. I met 'em on the road."

"How many in yer group?

The kid shakes his head like he doesn't know the answer, that is until Daryl pulls his buck knife from its sheath at his waist.

"Uh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Come on, man."

Daryl slams the knife down in the wood between the kids legs, leaning in he growls at the kid. "How many?"

The boy was frightful of the redneck's wrath, and squirmed beneath his grip. He was nervous as hell as he finally broke down and gave in to the Redneck. "Uh, 30. 30. 30 guys."

"Where?"

"Uh…" Daryl rips the bandage off the healing wound on the kid's leg, it sticks to the wound causing immense pain as it's ripped off. The kid screams, "I don't know. I swear. We were never anyplace more than a night."

Daryl sticks the tip of the blade inside the healing wound, "Scoutin'? Plannin' on stayin' local?"

"I don't know. They left me behind."

"Did you ever pick off a scab?"

Phoenix must have a profoundly sick sense of humor because she can't hide the smirk that stretches across her face while watching Daryl torture this kid. A part of her can't help it, Daryl is in his element, it's hot.

"Come on, man! I'm tying to cooperate."

"Start real slow at first. Sooner or later, you just gotta rip it off."

"Okay. Okay." The kid stammers, "They have weapons—heavy stuff, automatics." He stammers again as Daryl moves the blade in the wound. "But I didn't do anything."

"Yer boys shot at my boys, threatened my girl, tried to take this farm. You just went along for the ride. You're tryin' to tell me yer innocent?"

Phoenix wasn't sure she caught that right out of Daryl's mouth, she heard it but wasn't sure she heard it correctly so she just dismissed it. Daryl hated her.

"Yes!" The kid sighs exasperatedly. "These—these people took me in. Not just guys—a whole group of 'em." Daryl stands up staring down at the kid as he rambles on. "Men and women, kids, too—just like you people. Thought I'd have a better chance with them, you know? But, we got out, scavenge—just the men. One night we—we found this little campsite. A man and his two daughters—"

Phoenix's heart dropped to her stomach, she didn't have to hear to know what was coming next. She could feel the bile rising, taste it at the back of her throat just threatening to release itself. She sank to the floor sitting on her heels, her back against the wall as she breathed deeply suddenly very lightheaded. The more the kid said, the more she could picture what had been done to her over three months ago.

"Teenagers, you know? Real young. Real cute." Daryl had his back to the kid but after hearing that he turned to face the kid. "Their daddy had to watch while these guys, they—And they didn't even kill him afterwards. They just—they made him watch as his daughter—They just-just—just left him there." The kid realizes the look on Daryl's face, he hears the woman whisper, "Son, you should've kept yer mouth shut."

He glances from her up to the angry man in front of him. "No, but-but—but I didn't touch those girls. No, I swear I didn't to—"

It was heavily hinted that they men in his party often slaughtered the men of survivors they came across, while leaving the women alive to rape and abuse. This angered Daryl more than anything. He stood stiff, his brows narrowed as his eyes pierced into Randall while he silently listened to the boy go on. Phoenix immediately came to his mind first. The thought of some scum pig bastard laying their fingers upon her... Daryl had heard enough and kicked the kid as hard as he can. The kid pleads with him, "Please. You gotta believe me man. I'm not like that. I ain't like that. Please. Please, you gotta believe me."

Daryl chances a glance over at Phoenix, which he shouldn't have done. Seeing her sitting on the floor, the look on her face and the visions started flashing in his head of those men doing the same things to her. All he sees now is red. Daryl lashes out kicking the kid in his injured leg, he quickly clenched his hands and brought his right fist firmly across the boy's face. He pulled back and swung again. Over and over as the thoughts played through his mind. He could not get his hands upon the entire group of men that were responsible for such monstrous acts and so he took it out on the next best thing; Randall.

* * *

After several long minutes of beating the teen until he was unconscious, Daryl takes Phoenix's hand, helping her up off the floor and they exited the shed. He notices she has gained back some of her color and her emotionless mask is back on. His eyes met with hers, his features a bit rough. His hands were bloodied, his knuckles having been made raw from all of the punching he had done. He averted his eyes from her, his right hand moving to rest upon the strap of his crossbow, which was slung over his back. "I shouldn't have went that far." He stated with the raise of a brow. The unsaid question hung in the air almost as if he was hesitant about her seeing him like he had been. As if she would judge him for being so cruel in his beatings to the boy. Which was unusual to him, as he generally never cared what others thought of him.

The entire time listening to the kid speak, rage boiled in Phoenix's blood, she looked up as she heard Daryl fall silent. Was he going to stop? Storm out? She certainly hoped not. He had taken on the ability to beat the kid into oblivion if he wanted to and at that point... Phoenix almost wished she could've been given such a gift.

Phoenix relished the sound of the boy's whimpers and pleas. As if they were the most exotic aphrodisiac, she closed her eyes and rested her forehead against the wall behind her for a few moments as she clutched one of her bandanas in her hand, along with a large bottle of water. She never thought she'd love such a brutal sound so much.

After a short time, the noise stopped. She could hear Daryl collecting his things and turned her head as he approached her and held out a hand to her. Phoenix glanced over at Randall, limp on the floor, bloodied and broken. Good. She took his hand as he lead her outside.

Phoenix's head perked up at his words, she turned to her hunter, she heard the unasked question he was inquiring about. At first, Phoenix didn't pay heed to the question, merely observing his aversion from her piercing blue eyes. She leaned over slightly, catching his line of sight and forcing him to meet her gaze. She froze a moment, noticing his inner turmoil. Her own gaze told him not to be ashamed.

She looked down a moment, opening the bottle of water and pouring some on the bandana. She squished the excess out of it before motioning to him.

"Give me your hands a moment, D." She said, her tone much more calm and soothing than intended.

* * *

Daryl leaned back a little as she leaned towards him to get a look at his face, a little uncomfortable at how she had forced him to look at her that way. Though by doing so it allowed the hunter to see her curious eyes as they searched his. He lowered his head a moment, his eyes moving to stare at the dirt beneath his feet as he waited to hear whatever opinion she had. To willingly take whatever lecture she threw at him. But Daryl was surprised, for no words of scolding came from her. Instead the woman gently asked for him to show her his hands, as she dampened the cloth in her grasp.

He raised his head quickly, as he stared at her in confusion for a split second. As if he had never been asked such a thing before in his life. He glanced down at his hand, which was still firmly wrapped around the strap of his crossbow, before returning his hues to meet hers. This was nothing he had happen before. Growing up with his childhood, he never had anyone to take care of him or nurture him. Daryl seemed hesitant, but slowly lowered his hand from its place around the strap and extended towards her. He moved almost as if he was cautious, his right brow was slightly raised and his eyes were narrowed as he watched intently and curiously as she began to clean off his hands. All the while occasionally removing his sights from her working hands to stare at her when she wouldn't notice.

He looked like a deer trapped in headlights for a moment. Phoenix's brave gaze never faltered, letting him know she could be trusted with such a simple task. She reached out as he extended his hand to her; nimble, soft digits curling around his own calloused ones as she began to dab away the blood. She took her pouty bottom lip between her teeth as she concentrated solely on the wounds that formed in the wake of his rage. Now and then, her silken thumb would accidentally stroke against the hardened, stiff flesh of his palm and her eyes would falter.

* * *

"My Dad told me somethin' a while back. Before the breakout." She murmured in a tone that was hardly above a whisper. Her eyes were more focused now, as though talking about her father was a totally foreign concept to her. "He told me that the innocent were to be protected at all costs... cause we never knew when they wouldn't be around anymore." Her voice trembled somewhat as she remembered those words; trying hard not to let her emotions rise to the surface.

She proceeded to pour a bit more water over his wounds before she did her final dabbing. Phoenix met his eyes bravely when she finished and ran her bubblegum tongue over her parched bottom lip before speaking one last time.

"Randall is not an innocent. He is a liability." It took her a moment to realize she was still holding onto the hunter's hand. She pulled it back; as though burned from his touch. "You have every right to be proud of the mess you made of him."

* * *

Daryl watched in silence as she began to dab at his bloodied knuckles. The feeling of her gentle and smooth fingers of the hand that held his felt unusual to him. He had never held hands with anyone before and this had to be the closest he probably ever would get to doing such a thing. His crystalline hues were focused intently upon the hand that washed away the blood, watching as they worked delicately around his open wounds. His eyes quickly moved to her face when her voice broke the surprisingly soothing silence that had surrounded them. He listened quietly as she shared with him what her father had once told her and could hear the struggle in her voice. It was evident, even to him, that this man had been an extremely important figure in her life. He squinted his eyes, his expression smoothing as she finished, realizing exactly what she was doing by telling him this. This was her way of letting him know that she backed him up on what he had done.

* * *

She lifted her head to meet his gaze as she stated that Randal was a liability. He searched her eyes thoughtfully for a moment before she suddenly jerked her hand from his. This caused him to slowly pull back, his head lowering to look at his cleaned knuckles, examining them, before returning his hand to the strap of his crossbow. "We better go tell Rick what we found out."

Phoenix nodded following him up towards the camp. They had only taken a few steps before Daryl stopped, turning to her. "As long as he's here, I want you to stay with me, don't leave my sight."

"Sure Dixon." She said with a laugh while rolling her eyes.

He quickly reached out grabbing her elbow in his vice like grip, spinning her to face him she saw his eyes, cloudy with emotions, some she had never seen in him before. Anger, nothing new there, but now she saw fear. He was scared about what would happen to her.

"I mean it! You heard what he said in there. Until he's gone and I know we're safe, I want you in my sight at all times!"

"Okay—okay, Daryl." She makes sure she has his eyes locked on her. "I promise. I won't leave yer side."

He nods letting her go as he starts up towards the camp, behind him Phoenix follows rubbing her elbow, she can feel the bruise forming on her arm under her long sleeve shirt already.

* * *

The others are having a meeting about what is going to be done about the kid. Rick looks up to see Daryl and Phoenix walking up to the camp. "We'll know soon enough."

Daryl's carrying his crossbow on his back, his right hand holding the strap, his knuckles broken open and bleeding. "Boy there's got a gang, 30 men. They got heavy artillery and they ain't looking to make friends. They roll through here, our boys are dead. And our women, they're gonna—they're gonna wish they were."

"What did you do," Carol asks glancing at his torn up hand.

"Had a lil chat."

Carol turns and walks away, Phoenix rolls her eyes at the woman, didn't anyone understand the severity of what he just said.

"No one goes near this guy." Rick tells the group.

"Rick, what are you gonna do?"

He turns to his wife, "We have no choice. He's a threat. We have to eliminate the threat."

Of course, Mister Moral Dale has to add in his two cents. "You're just gonna kill him?"

"It's settled. We'll do it today."

* * *

Rick turns to leave and Dale follows him, still pleading the kid's case. He wanders up the hill to where Daryl is camped by the edge of the woods by the broken stone hearth. He glances at Phoenix who is laying on the ground watching Daryl make his new bolts.

He looks up to see Dale coming and scoffs, "Oh! The whole point of me comin' up here is to get away from you people."

"Gonna take more than that." He glances at the woman. "Look's like you don't want to get away from everyone."

"I'm his prisoner," Phoenix smirks. "I have no choice."

"Carol send you?" Daryl asks already knowing the answer.

"Carol's not the only one that's concerned about you, your new role in the group."

"Oh, man, I don't need my head shrunk. This group's broken. I'm better off fendin' for myself." He reaches for his jacket and vest off the hearth.

"You act like you don't care."

"Yeah, it's cause I don't."

"So live or die, you don't care what happens to Randall?"

"Nope."

"Then why not stand with me, try to save the kid's life, if it really doesn't matter one way or the other?"

"Didn't peg you for a desperate sumbitch."

"Your opinion makes a difference."

"Man, ain't nobody lookin' to me for nothin'." He helps Phoenix off the ground, she grabs her bow as they head towards the woods.

"Carol is, and I am. Right now. And you obviously—you have Rick's ear."

"Rick just looks to Shane. Let him." Daryl turns back, Phoenix stays where she is having nothing to say on the Randall matter.

"You cared about what happened to Sophia… cared what it meant to the group. Torturing people? That isn't you. You're a decent man. So is Rick. Shane is different."

"Why's that? Cause he killed Otis?"

Dale's face drops, "He tell you that?"

"He told some story—How Otis covered him, saved his ass. He showed up with the dead guy's gun. Rick ain't stupid. If he didn't figure that out, it's cause he didn't wanna. It's like I said—group's broken."

Dale watches the two hunters take off into the woods, before he heads back down to the house.

* * *

The two of them walk deep into the woods, side by side, each covering their own side.

"Dale's right you know."

Daryl gives her a sideways glance.

"You are a decent man. Every bit as good as Rick and Shane, sometimes yer better. Neither of them fought as hard as you to find Sophia. That tells me everythin' I need to know about you. And Rick does look to you, he listens to you, more than you realize."

After a while of silence Phoenix notices out of the corner of her right eye Daryl keeps biting the inside of his cheek, a tell that he's thinking hard about something. After several minutes of watching him do it, she decides to ask what's bugging him, but he beats her to it.

"What happened to you before you met up with us?"

That was the last thing Phoenix expected him to say, so naturally it caught her off guard. She searched for the right words, trying to make it sound less worse than it was. She couldn't fight the fact that she liked Daryl and the last thing she wanted was to lose him. But she knew the only result of telling him what was done to her, was him walking away from her, she knew he would and now there was no way to avoid it.

"I was by myself, on the way to Atlanta and I was ambushed by a group of men. They took their time, using me for whatever got them off and then they left me for dead. I healed, found them and killed each and every one, slowly and painfully. Nothin' more to say."

Daryl grabbed her arm halting her, "That ain't all. I know you well enough to know that what they did to you wasn't enough to break you. Yer too strong for that to defeat you. So somethin' else happened that made you react the way you did to the kid's words earlier. Now what happened?"

"Nothin'. Now let it go Dixon." She yanked her arm out of his grasp and turned to walk away. Daryl wasn't having that, he dropped his bow, grabbed her wrist this time, knocking the bow from her hand. She turned to swing at him, but he grabbed her free hand before she could and turned her around slamming her up against a tree, her arms pinned above her head. She was calm, pissed off but calm. Until she felt Daryl's fingers brush against the small of her back.

"Daryl! No, please don't! Please, I'm beggin' you, don't. Please, Daryl!"

The hunter ignored her pleas determined to find out what she was hiding. He grasp the bottom of her shirt pulling it up to her neck exposing her entire back. What he found was an intricate Phoenix tattoo covering her back. The wings spread across her shoulder blades, and the long tail stretched down her spine to just above her pants. It was detailed with orange, red and white, it was beautiful. He felt her go lax in his hands, her head dropping and her shoulders sagging.

He looked closely at the tattoo, it was broken in certain spots by light pink colored lines that crisscrossed over her entire back. He followed one long scar around her right side to her stomach. It was then Daryl realized what else had been done to her and he felt sick about what he had done to find it out. He now knew why like him, she didn't show off her back much, especially when people were close, that's when you could really see the scars.

He released her hands, she stayed where she was letting them fall to her sides. "Happy now?" Her tone made him feel worse, he watched her carefully pull the shirt back down. "They whipped me. When I cried, when I screamed, when I fought back. Anythin' they didn't like, I was punished for it."

"Rayne. I'm-"

"Save it Dixon." She leaned down picking up her bow and heading into the woods. He sighed running a hand over his head knowing he had fucked up anything that was starting between them, he picked up his bow and followed after her.

* * *

When the sun started to go down they headed back to the house, everyone gathered inside for a meeting about the kid's fate. Daryl stands against the wall next to the door, Phoenix leans opposite him on the wall to his left. She can see him out of the corner of her eye glancing over to her, she hasn't said a word to him since what happened in the woods. And she doesn't plan on speaking to him anytime soon.

"So how do we do this?" Glenn asks looking over at Rick. "Just take a vote?"

"Does it have to be unanimous?" Andrea wonders.

"How bout majority rules?" Lori offers.

Rick steps forward, "Well, let's just see where everybody stands then we can talk through the options."

"Hell the way I see it, there's only one way to move forward." Shane tells the group.

"Killing him, right?" Dale snaps eyeing Shane. He can't believe the people he's with, how could they do something like this. "I mean, why even bother to take a vote? It's clear which way the wind's blowing."

"Well, if people believe we should spare him, I want to know."

"Well, I can tell you it's a small group—maybe just me and Glenn."

The kid glances up at Dale, his face saying it all. "Look, I think you're pretty much right about everything. All the time, but this—"

"They've got you scared."

"He's not one of us. And we've—we've lost too many people already."

Dale glances over at Maggie and Hershel, "How about you? Do you agree with this?"

"Couldn't we continue to keep him prisoner?" Maggie asks Rick.

"Just another mouth to feed." Daryl tells her.

"It may be a lean winter." Hershel explains.

"We could ration better." Lori offers.

"Well he could be an asset. Give him a chance to prove himself."

"Put him to work?" Glenn suggests.

"No, we're not letting him walk around." Rick tells them.

"We could put an escort on him." Maggie says.

Shane scoffs, "Who wants to volunteer for that duty?"

"I will." Dale pipes up, of course he would.

"I don't think any of us should be walking around with this guy."

"He's right. I wouldn't feel safe unless he was tied up." Lori says backing up her husband.

"We can't exactly put chains around his ankles, sentence him to hard labor." Andrea chimes in.

"Look, say we let him join us, right?" Shane tells them all. "Maybe he's helpful, maybe he's nice. We let our guard down and maybe he runs off, brings back his 30 men."

Both Daryl and Phoenix nod agreeing with Shane.

"So the answer is to kill him to prevent a crime that he may never even attempt? If we do this, we're saying there's no hope. Rule of law is dead. There is no civilization."

"Oh, my God," Shane spouts off.

"Could you drive him further out?" Hershel asks. "Leave him like you planned?"

"You barely came back this time." Lori tells them. "There are walkers. You could break down. You could get lost."

"Or get ambushed." Daryl throws in.

"They're right. We should not put our own people at risk." Glenn says.

Patricia speaks up, "If you go through with it, how would you do it? Would he suffer?"

"We could hang him, right? Just snap his neck." Shane says.

"I thought about that." Rick replies. "Shooting may be more humane."

"And what about the body? Do we bury him?" T-Dog asks speaking for the first time.

"Hold on, hold on." Dale says. "You're talking about this like it's already decided."

"You've been talking all day, going around in circles. You just wanna go around in circles again." Daryl tells him.

Dale looks to Phoenix who hasn't said a word, pleading with his eyes. She shakes her head, "I'm sorry Dale. You know where I stand. If it was up to me, I'd have shot him as soon as we found him. I know what men like the ones he's with are capable of." She glances sideways at Daryl. "I won't let that happen to anyone here."

"This is a young man's life and it is worth more than a five-minute conversation. Is this what it's come to? We kill someone because we can't decide what else to do with him? You saved him and now look at us. He's been tortured. He's gonna be executed. How are we any better than those people that we're so afraid of?"

"We all know what needs to be done." Shane says softly.

"No, Dale is right." Rick says. "We can't leave any stone unturned here. We have a responsibility—"

"So what's the other solution?" Andrea asks.

"Let Rick finish." Lori says with a look to Andrea.

"We haven't come up with a single viable option yet. I wish we could." Andrea continues.

"So let's work on it!" Dale yells.

"We are." Rick tells him.

"Stop it. Just stop it." Carol speaks quietly. "I'm sick of everybody arguing and fighting. I didn't ask for this. You can't ask us to decide something like this. Please, decide—either of you, both of you—but leave me out."

"Not speaking out or killing him yourself—there's no difference." Dale tells her.

"All right, that's enough. Anybody who wants the floor before we make a final decision has the chance." Rick says stepping back and looking to the group.

No one says anything which leaves Dale to speak up again. "You once said that we don't kill the living."

"Well, that was before the living tried to kill us." Rick tells him matter-of-factly.

"But don't you see? If we do this, the people that we were—the world that we knew is dead. And this new world is ugly. It's… harsh. It's a survival of the fittest. And that's a world I don't wanna live in and I don't believe that any of you do. I can't. Please. Let's just do what's right." He's almost near tears as he looks around. "Isn't there anybody else who's gonna stand with me?"

"He's right." Andrea says earning everyone's attention. "We should try to find another way."

"Anybody else?" Rick asks, but there are no other objections.

Dale looks around at them, tears shining in his eyes. "Are y'all gonna watch, too? No, you'll go hide your heads in your tents and try to forget that we're slaughtering a human being. Whoa. I won't be a party to it." He makes his way to the door, as he passes by Daryl he stops. "This group is broken."

* * *

Phoenix heads outside to her truck to grab a few things, she hears someone behind her and assumes it's Daryl, pissed cause she left his sight.

"I can't believe you're okay with this."

The huntress rolls her eyes her head dropping backwards. "Dale, we've been over this. You know where I stand and that view is not goin' to change."

"Why not? What has this kid done to you that makes you so eager to kill him."

"I know his kind, if he gets free, he's runnin' straight back to them. And when they return, you don't want to know what will happen to us all. I have seen it first hand and I don't want that for anyone here."

"And what proof do you have?"

Phoenix sighs then takes off her shirt. Dale takes in every mark and scar covering her chest and stomach, then she turns around and he see the ones on her back.

"I took in a stray. He told me I could trust him. Next thing I know, he leads me back to his group. I went through hell for a week before they left me for dead. Now I will not take the chance of what happened to me, happenin' to any a these women. I couldn't live with it on my conscious, could you Dale?"

Like most people who saw scars like that, Dale was speechless. Phoenix pulled her shirt back on as he walked away. Shortly after she heard footsteps again, "Oh, don't tell me you're gonna try again."

"Why didn't ya tell me the truth?"

Phoenix turns to find Daryl behind her, she sighs, "I can't do this."

"Do what?" He says looking at the ground.

"Pretend to hate you. Cause I don't and I probably never will. Daryl you are honestly the only friend I have in this world anymore. You understand me better than anyone. And I like you."

His head snapped up at that, he stared at her waiting for her to finish.

"But I knew that as soon as you saw those scars, I would lose you. No man wants to be with a woman covered in scars. I'm beyond damaged, physically and emotionally. No man wants to be with a damaged woman. You deserve better. The things that I went through, they changed me. I may never be like I used to before. I'll always bare those scars. I push you away because I'm afraid. Afraid of history repeatin' itself, and it's not just what that group did to me. That was just physical. It's what happened before, how I ended up on my own."

He jumped up onto the tailgate of her truck, patting the seat beside him. "I got all night. Why don't ya explain it to me."

She pulled herself up next to him, she sat for a moment biting her lip.

"Please don't bit yer lip like that." She heard the strained voice, it was the same as he used in the room when she was recovering.

"Sorry."

"Don't be sorry. It's just—I like it when you do it. But I don't think now's the right time to be jumpin' ya in the back of yer truck."

They both smiled, sharing a laugh. That eased Phoenix's mind, so she went on with her story. "When this whole thing started, I was with my fiancé John. Us and six of our good friends, three couples. Randy & Tanya, Nick & Cassie and Tony & Janet. We were makin' our way towards Atlanta, in the middle of the night Cassie disappeared. I went to find her but there was no trail or anythin'. A few more days past then Tanya disappeared the same way. Then Janet after that. I knew somethin' was wrong but by the time I figured out what had happened it was too late.

There was a group of walkers followin' us the entire time. And the guys had been leavin' the girls behind as bait while they escaped. I was the last one left. We were almost to Atlanta, when the walkers caught us again. I don't remember what happened, but I woke up with my leg in a bear trap. I realized my fiancé had done as the others had and left me behind to save themselves. But he forgot I was different than the other girls. I killed the first walker that came to me, stabbed it in the head with my knife. Then I pulled it over me and hoped it masked my smell from the others. I worked and I released my leg from the trap and pulled myself up into a high tree. My leg was bleedin' profusely and my tibia and fibula were fractured. I knew I wouldn't get far, so I splint them as best I could and spent the next month livin' in the tree, survivin' on whatever came my way which wasn't much.

After I was sure I healed, I headed for Atlanta. The guys were never very smart as they left behind my bow and my backpack. I followed the GPS tracker straight to my truck inside an abandoned warehouse. I found them all inside laughin' about how they had got away, how it was a good idea to sacrifice the girls cause they couldn't have made it alone. Did they have a shock when I showed up. I quickly shot two bolts into Nick and Tony's head. John pleaded with me sayin' it was nothin' personal, the other guys told him he had to do it. I let him ramble himself to tears and then I shot a bolt through his skull.

I decided from then on, I couldn't trust anybody. If my own fiancé could do that to me, what would someone else do. I don't mean to make you pay for what he did to me, I just can't take the chance of bein' hurt like that again. I'm sorry Daryl."

She hung her head, twisting her fingers in her lap. He sighed before lightly hugging her to his side, shocked when she didn't flinch at the contact.

"I would never do that to anyone, let alone someone I cared about. You're not the only one with scars and a past they'd like to forget. But what happened to us then, makes us stronger now. I don't expect you to trust me right now, I haven't earned that, but I hope someday I can. You're about the only reason I'm still here. You and I, we're two of a kind. I will not let anyone hurt you again. You watch my back, I got yours."

Phoenix lifts her head smiling at this new sweet side to the moody redneck.

"Hey you two, it's time." They both turn to find Rick watching them from the porch.

"Guess that's our cue. Come on Dixon."

"Is there anyway I can get ya to call me Daryl all the time?"

"Maybe, we'll have to see."

He smirks, shaking his head as they head for the shed with Rick and Shane. Daryl grabs the kid and together they shove him towards the barn.

"It's all gonna be over soon," Shane tells the kid as he wraps a blindfold around his eyes.

"What's gonna be over soon?" He asks.

"Relax."

"Would you like to stand or kneel?" Rick asks him as he pulls out his gun holding it at his side. It was only fair to give the kid a choice in something.

Daryl kicks the kid in the back of the leg dropping him down to his knees.

Rick to the three of them, they share the same nod. "Do you have any final words?"

The kid sobs, pleading for his life as Rick raises the gun to his forehead. But before he can pull the trigger, Carl walks in through the open barn door. Rick is so preoccupied he doesn't see him until he hears, "Do it, Dad. Do it."

Shane walks over to Carl, "Are you kidding me? What'd I say to you? What did I say to you?" He drags Carl outside by his arm, Rick lowers the gun, "Take him away. Take him away."

Daryl grabs Randall by his shirt, "Get up." He drags him back to the shed followed by Phoenix, but not before she notices the deer skeleton sitting in the corner of one of the stalls. She whispers to herself, "So that's where the skin and entrails went."

Rick turns to look at his son, as Shane storms out the barn door. Rick goes back to the group telling them that their keeping him in custody for now. Andrea says she's gonna find Dale and let him know. Lori meanwhile tells Carl to go inside, she gives Rick a look of why and he tells her that Carl followed them and wanted to watch.

Phoenix and Daryl are sitting on the tailgate of her truck, she's showing him the case of spare arrows she has and where she keeps it so he can use them and not have to make anymore.

Abruptly they hear screaming, the two look at one another and jump down with their bows in hand running towards the sound in the pasture. They come across a walker tearing Dale's stomach open. Daryl tackles the walker off of him, stabbing it in the head. Phoenix comes to Dale's side looking down at his open stomach. He meets her eyes knowing there is nothing she can do.

"Help! Over here!" Daryl screams as he kneels next to Dale's body. "Help run!"

"Hang in there, buddy." Daryl tells him.

The rest of the group runs up, Rick kneels down on the other side from Phoenix, she shakes her head when he gives her a pleading look, there's nothing she can do for him. Hershel reaches them, he explains there is nothing they can do.

Andrea and Lori are at his sides with Phoenix, he looks up meeting each of their eyes. "Dale." He looks to Phoenix, "I'm sorry bout what I said earlier. Can you forgive me?"

He gives her a small smile and a nod. His moans get louder, Andrea watches him, "He's suffering. Do something!"

Rick pulls out his gun as Shane softly tells him, "Come on." Even Shane doesn't want this to happen but it has too.

The group struggled. Tears and fear welled in their eyes as they held each other and turned their faces from the horrific sight. Rick's hand moved to his pistol as he slowly removed it from its holster, his eyes bearing a pain that no one could even begin to imagine comparing to. Daryl glanced over at their leader and he knew all too well that, even Rick could only handle so much. The weight on his shoulders was crushing him and if he did this it would only add to the burden he carried. In silence, Daryl slowly extended his hand, his fingers moving to curl around the upper portion of the gun, as his eyes met with Rick's. The two stared at one another in a mutual understanding, before Rick willingly stepped back and allowed the Redneck to take his gun from him.

Daryl swallowed, his face blank as he lowered himself to his knee, being sure to be as respectful and delicate as well as the situation allowed him. His eyes traveled to rest upon Dale's face, his expression turning to a sorrowful one as he cocked the gun and aimed it at his head. Dale's eyes meet Phoenix's as she stayed by his side holding his hand, he nods lifting his head and pressing it against the barrel of the gun. Daryl's voice was soft as he spoke, "Sorry, brother." BANG.


	17. Better Angels

**Disclaimer - I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

Thank you to all of you who have followed or favored myself and my story. I would love some reviews, let me know if you guys are liking my character and my interpretation of the series.

xoxo Tiearney

* * *

Shane and Andrea sit in the cab of the truck, flying down the back roads. Phoenix sits in the back in between Daryl and T-Dog. She still has on her clothes from last night, she glances down at the drops of Dale's blood that spatter her clothing. She kept hearing Rick's words from the ceremony today running through her head.

_"__Dale, could get under your skin. He sure got under mine, cause he wasn't afraid to say exactly what he thought, how he felt. That kind of honesty is rare and brave."_

The truck stops, they get out to repair parts of the perimeter fence. Daryl and Phoenix providing coverage with their bows.

_"__Whenever I'd make a decision, I'd look at Dale. He'd be looking back at me with that look he had. We've all seen it one time or another. I couldn't always read him, but he could read us."_

They moved to the woods, Daryl and Phoenix leading the way. Daryl whistled as he found a trail heading up a small incline.

_"__He saw people for who they were. He knew things about us—the truth, who we really are. In the end, he was talking about losing our humanity. He said this group was broken."_

They ride up in the truck finding several walkers ahead of them, they jump out.

_"__The best way to honor him is to un-break it. Set aside our differences and pull together, stop feeling sorry for ourselves and take control of our lives…"_

Daryl and Phoenix drop two walkers with a bolt to the head. T-Dog smashes one in the head with a hammer.

_"…__our safety…"_

Andrea drives a pitch fork through the throat and up into the head of another.

_"…__our future. We're not broken. We're gonna prove him wrong."_

Shane smashes one with a shovel, as Daryl takes out another with a bolt, Phoenix following his lead, she draws her Kukris from her back slicing one of the walker's heads in half from ear-to-ear.

_"__From now on we're gonna do it his way. That is how we honor Dale."_

They take out the remaining two walkers, Andrea stabs one in the head with the pitchfork and then they take turns kicking the other one, releasing their aggressions, until Shane splits the walker's head open by smashing it with a shovel.

* * *

Daryl had stationed his tent back with the others a few days prior and was on his way to it when they had returned. His crossbow was strapped over his back and he was thankful for that night that he had spent making a dozen of new arrows, and the case of extras Phoenix had shown him, because they would definitely be needing them. His hand was at its usual place around the strap as he strolled across the lawn, passing by the members of their group as they gathered around the camp in various spots to prepare for lunch. His eyes moved in different directions as he silently observed each of them, only to stop as they rested upon Phoenix, who was seen at the back of her truck. She seemed preoccupied as she tried to deal with something that seemed to be wrong with her hand. Daryl half paused in his step as he noticed this before quietly making his way over to her out of curiosity.

Upon approaching her, he quickly noted the blood that had stained the palm of her hand and could clearly see a gash positioned diagonally across it. She was trying to take care of it herself and Daryl felt compelled to return the favor that she had done for him last night. He squinted his eyes as he silently reached over, intrudingly but without a care, as he grabbed at her hand. Though he did it surprisingly gentle as he examined her wound more closely. "Ya ain't supposed to be clumsy like the rest of 'em." He quipped, though it was evident he was only joking with her. He released her hand from his hold and dug into his back pocket, where he removed a red bandana.

Ignoring the stares she would most likely be giving him, Daryl returned his hand to hers, lifting it up higher and closer towards him as he began to clean at her wound, much like she had done for him, only with much less grace.

* * *

Phoenix watched as Daryl put an end to Dale's suffering. Brother. Dale's shocked face could barely comprehend all that was going on. The innocence splayed on his face only furthered Phoenix's memories of her discussion with him about Randall. Naivety was not a good trait to have around these parts. Dale was an idiot and went out on his own. As much as the young huntress wanted to call him an idiot for doing something so stupid, she couldn't. All she could do was bow her head as she felt those painfully familiar tears sting her eyes. One actually managed to trek from the corner and trickle along the alabaster flesh of her cheek, only to fall from her chin and become forgotten in the sea of blood and gore on the ground.

"Son of a bitch." Phoenix mumbled to herself as she bit into the short fabric, attempting to tie it around her hand. Sure, she was a skilled fighter. She'd even gained kudos from T-Dog, Shane and Andrea herself on her skills after she had finished off a walker who was coming up behind the trigger-happy blonde. Though she barely cared for the last, she was proud enough to have made a bit of a name for herself.

But even the strongest warriors had their wounds. Phoenix's came from a stray nail in one of the boards of the wooden fence when she hopped it to attack a walker. Of course, she had done her best to hide it from the group. It was a decent-sized gash, but it was nothing she couldn't handle on her own.

She glanced over when the hunter approached her; a bit of the fabric still clenched between her teeth as she tried to tighten it around the wound.

"Hi." She muffled out against the cloth, grunting slightly as she proceeded with the garment.

But it was when Daryl had bravely reached out to grasp her hand that her eyes had gone slightly wide in shock. She stared at him as he revealed the gash and began tending to it properly, murmuring something about her clumsiness. A breath of a laugh escaped her and a hint of a smile played upon her lips.

"Ya. But every superhero has an off day, right?" She replied, studying his movements and noting his poor attempt to be as graceful as she. "Ouch!" She hissed when his fingers brushed over a tender spot near the wound, almost tempted to jerk her hand back from him.

* * *

The Redneck made no effort to respond to her superhero comment, but instead silently continued to clean her wound, only to stop half a moment when she had hissed at him as he accidentally brushed a calloused finger across a portion of her cut. He mumbled out an apology, "Sorry..." before he finished wiping the blood off. His eyes shifted to meet hers as she studied him, his hands moving to wrap the red rag around her hand, before his eyes returned to watch what he was doing. He tied the red material snug to her palm before lifting his hues to rest upon her again, where he noticed that she was still gawking at him curiously. But that wasn't just it. There was more to it. There was more behind her gaze that he couldn't quite put his finger on, because he had never had anyone look at him in such a way before.

* * *

Hearing his apology startled her, having never heard such a phrase exit his lips before. Phoenix's eyes traveled to the work he was doing now and then, but those cerulean orbs couldn't seem to pry away from the concentration riddling his features. That little twitch he got in the corner of his mouth when he was faltering and the look in his eyes when he finally clashed their hues together. Her mind was off the pain by now; only settled firmly upon the heat behind his touch and the way he displayed his soul in the surface of his gaze for her to search.

She wanted to open her mouth; to say her thanks... but no words formed upon her lips. Instead, she was caught up in the moment of realization. He was... handsome. Something she had never bothered to outright acknowledge before.

Her tongue drew along her bottom lip somewhat, then nibbled it slightly as she ignored her urges to lean in just a little further.

* * *

It was new to him and he didn't exactly fancy it. It made him uncomfortable, but for reasons he didn't understand why. The Redneck awkwardly removed his hand from hers, as if he was shying away from her as he ripped his sights from her to look at her wrapped hand that he gestured to. "You should be more careful next time." He bravely returned his blue orbs to hers for a second, before he quickly took a few steps back from her before turning his backside to her completely as he stalked off to escape the unbearable feeling of being suffocated.

* * *

Phoenix had opened her mouth to reply, but he had left before she'd had the chance. So, she merely sat; stumped and speechless for the first time in her life. While she watched his back retreat, she gulped hard; eyes wide, chest now heaving as though she'd run a marathon and her heart beating so hard against the marrow bars of her ribcage that she was almost positive it would burst through and plop into her hands.

"I'll try." She murmured before she forced herself up and got back to work.

* * *

Rick sighs, "It'll be tight, 15 people in one house."

Hershel waves his hand, "Don't worry about that. With the swamp hardening, the creek drying up…"

"With 50 head of cattle on the property, we might as well be ringing a damn dinner bell." Maggie finishes her father's thoughts.

"She's right. We should've moved you in a while ago."

Shane looks away at Hershel's words. Rick gives out the orders, "All right, let's move the vehicles near each of the doors facing out toward the road. We'll build a lookout in the windmill, another in the barn loft. That should give us sightlines on both sides of the property. T-Dog, you take the perimeter around the house. Keep track of everyone coming and going."

"What about standing guard?"

"I need you, Daryl and Phoenix on triple duty."

"Gotcha."

"I'll stock the basement with food and water, enough that we can all survive there a few days if need be." Hershel says walking past with an armful of supplies.

"What about patrols?" Andrea asks.

"Let's get this area locked down first. After that, Shane will assign shifts while me, Phoenix and Daryl take Randall offsite and cut him loose."

"We're back to that now?" Shane asks giving Rick a hard look.

"It was the right plan first time around. Poor execution."

"That's a slight understatement."

"You don't agree, but this is happening. Swallow it. Move on."

"You know that Dale's death and the prisoner—that's two separate things, right? You wanna take Daryl and Phoenix as your wingmen, be my guest."

"Thank you." Rick says walking away.

"You got it." Shane leans on the truck, biting his thumb, he looks over to catch Lori's eyes from the other side of the truck.

* * *

They all head up towards the house once things are packed into the vehicles. Hershel walks alongside Rick, "I see why you're not taking Shane with you. Just know I've got no more patience where he's concerned."

"He's turning over a new leaf."

"Andrea." The woman in front of them stops. "When I'm out with Daryl and Phoenix, help Hershel keep an eye on things around here."

"Me?"

"Shane's got a way of letting things get out of hand, especially when he's all torqued up."

"I think we're all a bit torqued up at this point."

"If you're staying here permanently, he's got to understand that's it's what Rick and I say, not whatever he wants." Hershel tells her.

"You've become close." Rick says as to why he's asking.

"We talk."

"Then you know he's not a bad guy. He's just his own worst enemy."

"You want me to babysit Shane?"

"I need to make sure every time I leave the farm all hell doesn't break loose."

She tilts her head, "Then maybe you should stop leaving."

"Will you keep an eye on things?"

"Of course."

* * *

The group gets working on unloading their things into the house. Shane heads out to start on the lookout spot on the windmill. Daryl is patching up a hole in the side wall of the shed, on top of the eve, where Randall is being kept.

* * *

Phoenix meets up with Rick and Daryl on the porch, a map in front of them on the railing. "Take him out to Senoia—hour there, hour back, give or take. We may lose the light, but we'll be halfway home by then."

"This lil pain in the ass will be a distant memory. Good riddance." The two hunters smile at Daryl's quip.

"Carol's putting together some provisions for him, enough to last a few days." Phoenix lets them both know.

Rick looks up as Shane drives up the road, he turns to Daryl. "That thing you did last night—"

"Ain't no reason you should do all the heavy lifting." Daryl says squinting in the light.

Rick holds up the map asking the two hunters, "So are you good with all this?"

"I don't see any of us trading haymakers on the side of the road. Nobody'd win that fight." He turns to see Shane walking up, "I'm gonna take a piss." Phoenix takes her leave as well to see how Carol's coming along.

* * *

Daryl and Phoenix are loading up the truck when T-Dog comes down. "Only got so many arrows. He hands the hunter a gun which he takes looking it over, "Is that Dale's gun?"

"Yeah."

"Wish I knew where the hell mine is." He says putting the gun in the back of his waistband.

Rick walks up, "Ready?"

"Yeah," the two answer.

"I'll get the package." T-Dog heads to the shed to retrieve Randall, only to find the kid missing, his unopened cuffs laying on the floor. He runs back up grabbing the others and bringing them back down. They all look around wondering how the hell the lil fucker got loose.

* * *

Suddenly from out of the woods runs Shane, his nose is broken and he's covered in blood from his nose to his chest. He says the kid's armed with his gun, snuck up in him and clocked him in the face.

Rick steps up, "Alright Hershel, T-Dog, get everybody back in the house. Glenn, Daryl, Phoenix come with us."

Shane calls out, "T, I'm gonna need that gun."

"Just let him go," Carol tells them. "Just let him go. That was the plan, wasn't it, to just let him go?"

"The plan was to cut him loose far away from here, not on our front step with a gun." Rick tells her.

"Don't go out there. Y'all know what can happen." Carol calls out after him.

"Get everybody back in the house. Lock all the doors and stay put!" Rick yells.

The five of them head into the trees together, Shane directing them. "I saw him head up through the trees that way before I blacked out. I'm not sure how long."

"He couldn't have gotten far. He's hobbled, exhausted."

"And armed." Glenn reminds Rick.

"So are we." Rick retorts.

"Can you track him?" Rick turns to the two hunters.

"No, I don't see nothin'." Daryl tells him.

Phoenix shakes her head, "Me either."

"Hey, look, there ain't no use in tracking him, okay? He went that way. We just need to divide up." Shane tells them forcefully. "We spread out, we just chase him down. That's it."

"Kid weighs a buck-25 soaking wet. You tryin' to tell us he got the jump on you?" Daryl says looking skeptically at Shane.

"I'd say a rock pretty much evens those odds, wouldn't you?"

"Hey alright, knock it off. You and Glenn start heading up the right flank. Me and Shane'll take the left. Phoenix you take the middle. Come here for a second." Rick pulls her off to the side out of Shane's hearing, "I hope you're as fast and silent as you say you are."

Phoenix nods, she knows what he means, she looks to all of them. "Pay attention all a you, if I get shot I'ma be pissed, and you don't wanna see that side a me."

* * *

The five of them split up, Phoenix staying as close to Rick as she can without Shane noticing. It gets dark quickly and soon it's hard to see more than a few feet in front of you.

* * *

Daryl stops in his tracks, "This is pointless. Give me a light." Glenn hands him a flashlight, he takes it pointing it to the ground in front of them. Daryl groans, "Come on."

* * *

At the other side of the woods Phoenix is following a good twenty yards behind Rick and Shane, lucky for her, the slight wind is pushing their voices back to her. Rick is following behind Shane carefully watching his every move.

* * *

Back with Daryl, Glenn notices something as he follows the hunter, "We're just back to square one."

"If you're gonna do a thing you might as well do it right."

"There's two sets of tracks right here." Daryl tells Glenn motioning with the flashlight. Shane must've followed him a lot longer than he said."

Something nearby catches Daryl's attention, "There's fresh blood on this tree."

He moves the flashlight to the ground, "There's more tracks. Looks like they're walking in tandem."

They follow the tracks forward, "Yeah, there was a lil dust up right here."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, something went down."

"This is getting weird."

"Had a lil trouble." Daryl reaches down grabbing the tie from Randall's eyes.

They hear a rustling behind them and they both duck behind a couple of trees. Glenn peeks out from behind the tree seeing a walker a couple yards from them. Daryl whistles to get the young man's attention, he tosses him a flashlight. They both glance out from behind the trees, the walker starts heading their way. Glenn hesitates and the walker knocks Glenn to the ground. Daryl shoots and misses, the walker attacking him, knocking Daryl down, the only thing between the two is the crossbow.

Glenn stands up rushing the walker, he grabs him around the chest. Daryl pops the walker in the mouth, knocking him back on top of Glenn. The young kid rolls the walker off of him and stabs him in the head. Daryl shines the flashlight down at the corpse, it's Randall.

"Nice," Daryl says patting Glenn on the stomach.

He picks up his crossbow as Glenn pulls the blade from the walker's skull, a nice squelching sound is heard as it comes out.

"Does this way feel right?" Rick asks Shane as they head up a small hill.

"As right as any."

"Snatched your gun, huh?"

"Yeah. It's my favorite piece, too. Gonna wish he'd—wish he killed me when I find his sorry ass."

"Go on," Shane says letting Rick take the lead.

"Got his neck broke," Daryl says as he looks over Randall's body. He rolls the body over searching for bite wounds. "He's got no bites."

"Yeah, none you can see."

"No, I'm tellin' you he died from this."

"How's that possible?"

The two of them share a look before Daryl stands up and pulls his arrow from the tree, he leaves, Glenn following behind.

* * *

The two men finally reach the edge of the woods, they walk out into an open field. Phoenix pauses at the edge of the woods behind a large tree, she notices the farm house just off to their left.

"You say he got you with a rock?" Rick asks.

"That's what I said."

"Inside the shed?" Shane doesn't answer so Rick keeps going. "Cause the door was shut when T-Dog rolled up."

"I saw that, too. Must've slipped through the rafters in the roof."

Rick stays with his back to Shane, he holsters his weapon and that's when Phoenix raises her bow. Just barely hidden by the tree, she trains on Shane, one twitch and she'll put an arrow in his head.

"So this is where you plan to do it?"

"It's as good a place as any."

"At least have the balls to call this what it is—murder. You really believe if you walk back onto that farm alone—no me, no Randall—"

"I want you to hush up."

"You really believe they're gonna buy whatever bullshit story you cook up?"

"That's just it. It ain't no story."

The two of them have traded positions now, so Phoenix fades further into the shadows so Shane cannot see her.

"I saw that prisoner shoot you down. I ran after him. I snapped his neck. It ain't gonna be easy, but Lori and Carl—they'll get over you. They done it before. They just gonna have to."

Shane exhales deeply, raising the gun on Rick.

"Why?" Rick's voice is strangled with emotion. "Why now? I thought we worked this all out."

Shane laughs, "We tried to kill each other man. What you think? We was just gonna forget about it? We gonna ride off into the sunset together?"

"You're gonna kill me in cold blood? Screw my wife." He spats vehemently. "Have my children—my children—call you daddy? Is that what you want? That life won't be worth a damn. I know you. You won't be able to live with this."

By now Rick had maneuvered Shane with his back again to the woods.

"What you know about what I can live with? You got no idea what I can live with, what I live with! You wanna talk about what I can do, Rick? How about what you can do?" Shane places his gun in the front of his waistband, holding his arms out to his sides. "Here I am. Come on, man. Raise your gun."

"No. No, I will not."

"What happened, Rick? I thought you weren't the good guy anymore. Ain't that what you said. Even right here, right now, you ain't gonna fight for 'em? I'm a better father than you, Rick. I'm better for Lori than you, man. It's cause I'm a better man than you, Rick. Cause I can be here and I'll fight for it. But you come back here and you just destroy everything! You got a broken woman. You got a weak boy. You ain't got the first clue on how to fix it."

Shane draws his gun again, "Raise your gun."

"You're gonna have to kill an unarmed man." Rick raises his hands out to his sides. "Watch my hand. Nice and easy." With his left hand Rick reaches down and pulls out his gun, "Easy does it." Rick holds the gun out to his left, "Now listen to me, Shane. There is still a way back from this. Nothing has happened here. We're gonna lay down our guns and we're gonna walk back to the farm together. Back to Lori. Back to Carl. Put this all behind us." With every word Rick moves closer to Shane until they're face-to-face. Just as Shane grabs the gun Rick pulls out his knife stabbing it into Shane's heart, he grunts firing his gun in reaction to being stabbed.

"Shh." Rick says as he lays his best friend down in the field, Shane gurgling on his own blood. "Damn you for making me do this, Shane. This was you, not me! You did this to us! This was you, not me! Not me!" Rick pulls the knife out, "Not me!" The tears fall as Shane reaches for Rick, he holds his once best friend until his last breath.

He stays there kneeled next to his friends body, wailing and crying. "Son of…" As Rick stands over his friend's body, Phoenix steps from her place behind the trees, slowly approaching Rick.

Rick looks up slowly, seeing Carl standing a few yards to his right, his face shocked. Rick stands up approaching his son, "Carl. You know… you should be back home with Mom." Carl's eyes don't falter from Shane's body, until he raises his gun towards his father. Rick can't believe his son is pointing a gun at him. "Just—just put the—put the gun down. It's not what it seems. Please."

Carl raises his gun to shoot but before he can fire, an arrow whistles through the air and embeds itself into Shane's head. Somehow Shane had become a walker and was coming to attack Rick and Carl. Rick takes his son into his arms as Phoenix walks over yanking her bolt from Shane's head. She smiles to herself whispering, "Been waitin' forever to do that."

She looks at the house just in the distance, not believing they were this close to it, so that's how Carl had found them. What they didn't know is that gunshot had attracted a hoard of walkers to their position.


	18. Beside The Dying Fire

**Disclaimer - I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

Thank you to all of you who have followed or favored myself and my story. I would love some reviews, let me know if you guys are liking my character and my interpretation of the series.

xoxo Tiearney

* * *

Rick, Carl and Phoenix head back towards the house. What they don't see is the massive hoard of walkers coming across the field after them.

* * *

Inside the house Daryl and Glenn enter, the hunter looks around. "Rick and Shane ain't back? Phoenix?"

"No. None of them," Lori says worried.

"We heard a shot," Daryl says.

"Maybe they found Randall," Lori replies.

He shakes his head, "We found him."

Maggie steps up, "Is he back in the shed?"

"He's a walker," Daryl tells them.

"Did you find the walker that bit him?" Hershel asks.

"No, the weird thing is he wasn't bit," Glenn says.

"His neck was broke," Daryl confirms.

"So he fought back." Patricia says.

"The thing is, Shane and Randall's tracks were right on top of each other. And Shane ain't no tracker, so he didn't come up behind him. They were together."

"Would you please get back out there and find Rick and Shane and Phoenix, and find out what on earth is going on?" Lori asks as she approaches Daryl.

"You got it," he nods heading for the door.

"Thank you."

* * *

Outside the three are walking through the field to the house, Phoenix hangs back a few yards letting the father and son talk. Carl looks up at the blood covering his father, "You bit, too?"

"No."

"Shane was."

"That wasn't Shane. You know that."

"Used to be." There was a pregnant pause. "What happened? You guys attacked? I mean, I—I heard a gunshot, but I didn't see any walkers nearby. How did Shane die?"

The two of them stop facing one another, Phoenix stops as well wanting to stay back, but something gives her the chills, a sound, like a low moan. She turns around and is horrified by what she sees. She runs up to the two, "We have to go, now!" They look around and see that a herd of walkers is closing on them, they turn running for the house.

* * *

On the porch of the house Daryl, Andrea and Glenn stare at the herd coming towards them.

"We got to get to the house, tell the others." Carl says quietly.

"We'll never make it Rick." Phoenix tells them.

"Can't go around. Carl, stay close. Go!" Rick says leading the way, Carl in between the two adults. Phoenix pulls out her Kukris tossing her bow over her back, she slices the head off any walker that comes close to them.

* * *

The others have joined the three on the porch. "Patricia, kill the lights." Hershel orders.

"I'll get the guns." Andrea says taking off inside.

"Maybe they'll just pass, like the herd on the highway. Should we just go inside?"

Daryl looks over at Glenn, "Not unless there's a tunnel downstairs I don't know about. A herd that size will rip the house down."

* * *

The three of them reach the barn, shutting the doors behind them and wedging a wooden bar through it. They back up as the walkers pound and push on the door desperately trying to get in.

* * *

Up on the porch everyone is outfitting themselves with guns. Maggie hands one to Glenn to hold for her. "Maggie?"

"You grow up country, you pick up a thing or two."

"They got the numbers. It's no use." Daryl says looking out at the herd circling the barn.

"You can go if you want," Hershel tells him loading a shotgun.

"You gonna take 'em all on?" Daryl asks the old man.

"We have guns. We have cars." Hershel says racking the shotgun.

"Kill as many as we can, then we use the cars to lead the rest of them off the farm." Andrea tells them all.

"Are you serious?" Daryl asks looking at them like they've lost their minds.

"This is my farm. I'll die here."

"All right. It's as good a night as any." Daryl says dropping down over the railing onto the ground.

* * *

"All right, here we go. Get behind me." Rick tells the two as they pour gas over the barn floor. He looks over at the walkers trying to come through the walls. "Oh, shit. All right. Okay. Up there. Hurry."

He points up a ladder to the hayloft. "What about you?" Carl asks.

"I'll be right there. Drop the lighter when I say. We'll stop some of them from reaching the house and distract the others, so at least we'll have a chance. Hey, hey, hey look at me. You can do this. Carl… I love you."

"Come on Carl, he'll be right behind us I promise." Phoenix urges the youngster up the ladder.

Rick runs over yelling loudly to get the walkers attention, before he slides the bar out and opens the doors. He runs to the ladder, still yelling for them as he climbs up to the top. "Carl, now!" The boy lights the lighter and drops it into the frenzy of walkers. The floor explodes in flames, the walkers still trying to reach them up top.

* * *

Outside Daryl leads the way for the vehicles on his bike, he rides down to the fence by the barn shooting walkers with his hand-gun. T-Dog is driving the truck as Andrea shoots from the passenger seat. Maggie is driving Shane's car as Glenn shoots from the passenger seat.

The walkers inside the barn are burning, all the while still trying to reach the three. They back out onto the ledge on the side of the barn.

The group keeps firing on the walkers killing all they can. Daryl rides over to Jimmy in the motorhome. "Must've been Rick, Shane or Phoenix that set that fire. Maybe they're tryin' to get out back. Why don't you circle around?"

* * *

They see the RV coming towards them, Rick yells for Jimmy to pull it in front of them. The three of them jump to the adjacent roof and onto the top of the RV. The walkers break through the door tearing Jimmy to pieces, as the three climb down the back ladder. Phoenix hits the ground her blades drawn as she slices two walker's heads in half across the ears. Rick jumps down beside her shooting three in rapid succession. They wait for Carl to climb down the ladder then run for the front of the RV, they can hear Jimmy inside screaming.

The three of them head around the back and for the woods as fast as they can.

* * *

Lori leads the women to the cars but Patricia gets ripped from Beth's hands by the walkers. Lori has to pull Beth away because of the grip Patricia has on her hand. T-Dog pulls up, Andrea ushers the two women inside then goes to find Carol.

Hershel is almost attacked by a walker from behind but Rick arrives shooting it just in time. The four of them run towards the suburban, Phoenix stops hearing a scream, "Get them out of here Rick."

He knows there is no arguing with her so he doesn't bother when she takes off, slicing her way through the walkers. Phoenix takes out every walker that heads after her, by now she's covered in blood head-to-toe. She hears a scream by the fence line and runs over finding Carol surrounded by walkers. She pushes the woman behind her as she decapitates the walkers coming near them.

Daryl who was sitting watching the barn burn hears Carol's screams and rides over on his bike. "Come on. I ain't got all day." Carol gets on, he turns to Phoenix, "I'ma drop her off up there and come back for you."

"No. Get her out of here." She stabs a walker in the head and decapitates another. "Go, Daryl!"

The look in his eyes is borderline heartbreak, "You better find me Rayne."

"I promise. Now go!"

She turns her back fighting off the walkers as they try to reach the bike. She turns running up the rode following the bike. Fatigue is slowly setting in and her arms are pulsing with pain. She looks to the house making sure everyone is gone and is rewarded with the sight of her truck. She knows it's a long shot but she heads for it cutting across the field. She jumps over the fence towards the house, but as she lands her knee gives out beneath her.

She rolls over to find a walker bearing down on her and stabs him through the head at the last minute. The body falls on top of her, his blood soaking through her clothes, over her face and hair. She hears more coming and silently prays they won't find her.

* * *

An hour passes and the remaining walkers have spread out, mostly down by the barn. Phoenix sees a straight shot to her truck, only two walkers between her and it. She slowly rolls the dead walker off her and gets up, hobbling as quick as she can towards her truck. She takes out the first walker, slices half its head off and then takes out the second with a bullet to the face.

She pulls herself up inside, finding the keys in the ignition where she told everyone to leave them incase they needed to get away. Firing the truck up she pulls out onto the driveway heading for the highway, she knows they'll all meet there.

* * *

Rick, Carl and Hershel are the first to arrive at the spot on the highway. They wait for awhile and just as they are about to leave they hear a motorcycle coming. They look up to find Daryl and Carol on his bike, Lori, Beth and T-Dog jump out of the truck and Maggie and Glenn in the other car.

Rick shakes Daryl's hand, "Where did you find the rest of them?"

"Well, this guys tail lights zigzagging all over the road—figured he had to be Asian, driving like that."

Glenn smirks at Daryl, "Good one."

They find out who's here and who's not.

"Where's Rayne?" Daryl asks.

Andrea and Phoenix had yet to show up. A few people mentioned that the two had had their hands full with the infected the last time they had seen them. They felt that the two had surely died.

"We don't know, she was the last one to leave, if she left." Rick says.

"I'm going back." Daryl says getting on his bike amid protests. "We can't just leave her."

"We don't even know if she's there." Lori tells him.

"I'm not leaving without her," Daryl grinds out his jaw set.

Daryl seemed hesitant to obey this indirect order, but remained where he was as the others began to throw up ideas of where to go and what to do. As they talk about where to go, they hear a walker coming towards them, Daryl pulls out his crossbow. "Stay off the main roads. The bigger the road, the more walkers, more assholes like this one. I got him." Daryl lodges an arrow in his head, then pulls it out wiping it on the walker's shirt.

* * *

Once everything had been decided Daryl paused as he made his way back to the motorcycle, his eyes trailing off in the direction where Hershel's property would be. It didn't seem right to be leaving, but he knew that Rick was probably right. There was no point in Daryl making another Sophia journey out of this. All that did was lead to a long road of failures and disappointment. "Daryl…?" Carol's voice broke his train of thought. The Redneck turned his sights upon her and noticed that she was looking at him concerned. Daryl quickly wiped any worries he may have had on his expression and swiftly hopped upon his motorcycle before starting it up.

Just as they are ready to leave a diesel engine is heard in the distance, everyone sighs in relief as Phoenix pulls her truck up next to them. She jumps down out of the cab looking like she bathed in walker blood. She exchanges hugs with everyone before she comes to face Daryl.

"I was startin' to think you'd broken yer promise."

"Never gonna happen Redneck." She smirks and he returns it, shocking her as he pulls her in for a hug.

* * *

The reunion is short but sweet as they pile back in the vehicles heading towards the next challenge. A ways away from the spot on the highway they stop the cars, everyone getting out to discuss where to go from here.

Phoenix grabbed her camo hunting jacket, the liner inside was fleece keeping her nice and warm.

Rick walks up to Daryl at the front of the line, the hunter eyes him, "You out?"

"Running on fumes."

"We can't stay here." Maggie says scanning the perimeter with her shotgun.

"We can't all fit in two cars." Glenn says stating the obvious.

"Sure we can," Phoenix tells them, "I can fit 6 of us in my truck includin' me, 5 people can fit in the car and Daryl has his bike. There's eleven of us not countin' Titan and he can ride in the back of my truck."

"We'll still have to make a run for some gas in the morning for the other car." Rick tells them as he looks around.

"Spend the night here?" Carol asks curling her thin sweater around herself.

"I'm freezing." Carl stutters out, Rick takes off his jacket giving it to his son.

"We'll build a fire, yeah?" Lori looks to her husband who nods in response.

"You go out looking for firewood, stay close. Only got so many arrows." Daryl tells them, "How you doin' on ammo?"

"Not enough." Rick tells him.

"I've got more arrows for Daryl and me so don't worry bout that. And what I have for my guns is it for me."

Maggie sighs, "We can't just sit here with our asses hanging out."

"Watch your mouth." Maggie glares at her father, this is a fine time to be scolding her for cursing. "Everyone stop panicking and listen to Rick."

"All right, we'll set up a perimeter. In the morning, we'll find gas and some supplies. We'll keep pushing on."

"Glenn and I can go make a run now, try and scrounge up some gas." Maggie offers.

"No, we stay together. God forbid something happens and people get stranded without a car."

"Rick, we're stranded now." Glenn says.

"Oh for God's sake, we are not stranded, do y'all forget I have a big truck that runs off solar power. So long as there is sun in the sky I have a full tank. So will y'all please calm down." Phoenix looks around trying to calm them all.

"I know it looks bad, we've all been through hell and worse, but at least we found each other. I wasn't sure—I really wasn't—but we did. We're together. We keep it that way. We'll find shelter somewhere. There's gotta be a place." Things are taking a toll on Rick, he's starting to break and everyone isn't helping the situation by bitching.

"Rick, look around. Okay? There's walkers everywhere. They're migrating or something." Glenn says getting frustrated.

"There's gotta be a place not just where we hole up, but that we fortify, hunker down, pull ourselves together, build a life for each other. I know it's out there. We just have to find it."

"Even if we do find a place and we think it's safe, we can never be sure. For how long? Look what happened with the farm. We fooled ourselves into thinking that that was safe." Maggie looks around as she speaks.

"We won't make that mistake again," her father tells her.

Rick eyes the perimeter, "We'll make camp tonight over there." He points to a brick structure to their left next to the river. "Get on the road at the break of day."

"Does this feel right to you?" Carol asks Daryl as Phoenix shakes her head, she's sick of everyone questioning Rick.

"What is walkers come through, or another group like Randall's?" Beth asks Rick.

"You know I found Randall, right?" Daryl tells Rick, "He had turned, but he wasn't bit."

Phoenix locks eyes with Rick shaking her head, this was not going to be pretty.

"How's that possible?" Beth asks.

"Rick, what the hell happened?" Lori asks her husband.

"Shane killed Randall. Just like he always wanted to." Daryl tells her.

"And then the herd got him?" Lori questions trying to process what happened.

Rick pauses looking around at the entire group, "We're all infected." The looks around the group were all disbelieving, every pair of eyes turned towards Rick. "At the CDC, Jenner told me. Whatever it is, we all carry it."

"And you never said anything?" Carol asks approaching him.

"Would it have made a difference?"

"You knew this whole time?" Glenn says.

"We both did." Phoenix interjects, she couldn't let Rick bear the brunt of this himself. "I heard Jenner when he said it."

"How could we have known for sure? You saw how crazy that mo—" Rick started only for Glenn to interrupt him, "That is not your call. Okay, when I found out about the walkers in the barn, I told, for the good of everyone."

"Well, I thought it best if people didn't know."

"Enough. All of you." Phoenix looks around at the group not believing their childish attitudes. "Rick didn't say anythin' and neither did I. What difference would it have made? Would y'all have fought so hard to stay alive if you knew there was no hope anyway? No matter how we die, we turn. How many of you would've chosen to end it right there? We have seen enough people die, so excuse the fuck out of me or Rick, if we didn't want the people we have come to care about and call a family to give up. After all he has done for you, you still don't trust him? Everythin' he has done has been to keep us all alive. He would give his life for any of you without a second thought, would you give yours for him? Before y'all jump down his fuckin' throat, why don't you put yourselves in his shoes for awhile."

Phoenix walked off towards the river, disgusted with everyone, while Rick walked a ways up the road. The rest of the group stood there taking in everything Phoenix said. After awhile Daryl went in search of Phoenix, he found her up the road standing on the river bank looking over the water.

"You come to yell at me? Tell me you hate me?" She didn't bother to turn around, she knew he was standing behind her.

"No. Rayne, I understand why Rick kept it from us, and why you did too. I'm not mad. You were right, they wouldn't have fought so hard to live if they had known." He could see the stiffness in her shoulders subside, so he stepped up beside her waiting until she looked at him.

She had attempted to wash all the blood off of her face but he could see she had missed a few spots. He grabbed his bandana out of his back pocket and leaned down dipping the tip in the water. She watched him carefully as he rose in front of her, raising the cloth to her face he was pleased when she didn't flinch at his touch. He proceeded to wash the left over spots of blood from her face, the entire time her eyes never strayed from him.

"You scared me you know." He looked up from her neck to see the surprised look in her eyes, he knew she didn't believe him, not that he blamed her. "When I got to the highway to meet up with everyone, and I noticed you weren't there… I—I was scared. I thought I had lost ya. I knew if somethin' happened to ya I was gonna blame myself."

She smiled before gently taking his hand in hers pulling it away from her face. "Daryl, I chose to stay back. Carol needed you more than I did at that time. I made a promise to ya, and I don't break my promises Daryl. You can't blame yourself for my choices, no matter how much ya think you're at fault." Her smile grew into a smirk as she eyed him, "You were really worried about me?"

He caught the glint in her eye and scoffed, "Shut up."

* * *

The two laughed as they walked back towards the group, the sun had set by the time they returned. Nix joined T-Dog on the top of the stone walls looking out into the woods, while Daryl collected firewood. The group sat on the ground huddled together trying to stay warm, as Daryl stoked the fire.

Carol turned to him whispering, "We're not safe with him—or her—keeping something like that from us. Why do you need them? They're just gonna pull you down."

"No. Rick's done alright by me. And Rayne—" He glances up at her with a soft smile. "She and I are a lot alike."

"You're his henchman and I'm a burden. We deserve better."

"What do you want?"

"A man of honor."

"Rick has honor."

Maggie turns to Glenn, "I think we should take our chances."

"Don't be a fool. There's no food, no fuel, no ammo." Hershel tells them before they hear a rustling of leaves, they all ask what it could be.

"Could be anythin'." Daryl says standing up pulling his crossbow off his back, he glanced up to see Nix already had her bow drawn and aimed. "Could be a raccoon, could be a possum."

"A walker." Glenn says as Rick steps back into the area cocking his gun.

"We need to leave. I mean, what are we waiting for?" Carol asks standing up with the rest.

"Which way?" Glenn said aiming his gun.

"It came from over there." Maggie tells him raising her gun as well.

"Back from where we came," Beth says.

"The last thing we need is for everyone to be running off in the dark." Rick tells them. "We don't have the vehicles. No one's traveling on foot."

"Don't panic." Hershel reminds his daughters.

"I'm not—I'm not sitting here, waiting for another herd to blow through. We need to move, now." Maggie says looking at Rick.

"No one is going anywhere."

"Do something." Carol snaps at Rick.

"I am doing something! I'm keeping this group together, alive. I've been doing that all along, no matter what. I didn't ask for this. I killed my best friend for you people, for Christ's sake!" The looks around the fire were unbelieving as Rick continued. "You saw what he was like, how he pushed me, how he compromised us, how he threatened us." Rick made a point to look down at Lori, Nix realized she had gotten pissed at Rick for killing Shane, the thought made her sick. "He staged the whole Randall thing, led me out to put a bullet in my back. He gave me no choice. He was my friend, but he came after me."

Lori hugged a crying Carl to her chest, the only eyes that weren't accusing towards Rick were Phoenix's and that's because she was there, heard what was said and knew Rick had no choice.

"My hands are clean." Rick takes a look at the people around him. "Maybe you people are better off without me. Go ahead. I say there's a place for us, but maybe—maybe it's just another pipe dream. Maybe—maybe I'm fooling myself again. Why don't you—why don't you go and find out yourself? Send me a postcard. Go on, there's the door. You can do better? Let's see how far you get."

Throughout Rick's entire speech, Phoenix noticed that not one person took the invitation to leave.

"No takers? Fine. But get one thing straight—you're staying, this isn't a democracy anymore."

Again no one made a move to leave, Rick walked away after that, leaving a speechless group behind them. Phoenix took this moment to address the group, "He's tellin' the truth." The group looks up to her. "Shane gave him no choice."

"How do you know?" Lori asks her, sarcasm and anger in her voice.

"Cause I was there. Rick knew what Shane had planned for him and asked me to follow them that night. I heard everythin' Shane had to say and if you'd like me to tell you all the disgusting details and put all your shit on blast Lori I'll be happy too." The woman dropped the glare she had Phoenix pegged with not needing everyone to know. "Shane drew on Rick, holdin' his gun right to Rick's face, even when Rick pulled out his gun and laid it down tryin' to work things out for the better. Shane gave Rick no choice, it was one or the other, only one a them was comin' back." She let them all process that information, "And if you want the person who finally put Shane down… it was me. I drove an arrow through his eye… and I smiled as I did it."

Phoenix could've cared less about the looks they gave her, or what they had to say. All that mattered was that Rick wanted her here and the second he didn't, she would be gone. She dropped down from the wall, "I'm gonna walk the perimeter." She wasn't talking to anyone in particular, just a general statement to the group. She found Rick just outside the brick enclosure, he gave her a small smile, "Thanks for that."

"You're welcome." She glanced back. "Don't worry, they'll come around."

He nodded as she walked off into the darkness, he knew he was lucky to have her on his side, at least someone understood everything he did.

If the group only knew what was on the other side of the river off in the distance on the other side of the woods, cloaked in darkness sat sanctuary they had been searching for all along.


	19. Seed

**Disclaimer - I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

Thank you to all of you who have followed or favored myself and my story. I would love some reviews, let me know if you guys are liking my character and my interpretation of the series.

xoxo Tiearney

* * *

The majority of the winter was spent moving from house to house, staying only as long as they were allowed before the walkers came looking for them. It had been 8 months since the farm was overrun and things hadn't gotten any better with the group's moral. They had laid off of Rick though, mostly because none of them wanted to go toe-to-toe with Phoenix, and they knew if they started on him they would end with her.

Phoenix and Daryl had not separated much during the winter, in fact they became that much closer, finding more things to rely on one another for. Daryl was also getting closer to Carol as well. The two women were so different and yet both intrigued him in different ways. Only time would tell who his heart would trust to give itself too.

Lori was having a hard time, being 8 months pregnant was hard on her body, coupled with constantly moving around and she felt like she was going to drop dead. Surprising to her, Phoenix had began to take special care of her, always making sure she had enough to eat and drink. She had even given up her bed in her truck to Lori when it was warm enough to sleep outside, an air mattress was better than a hard floor.

Phoenix had given up in trying to keep the group at a distance, these people were now her family and she would fight to the death for them. It was only a few months into winter she insisted they call her Rayne, she said they had earned it. That came as a surprise to Daryl, knowing she didn't let anyone call her by her first name for fear of her getting attached to them. He was glad she had let down those walls, but proud that he was the first to earn that honor, not that he had given her a choice of course.

* * *

The back door to a house was kicked in, Rick, T-Dog and Daryl going in first and taking out the two walkers in the entrance. Rayne and Carl follow them in, everyone splitting up to clear the house. The young boy takes off behind his father, the Sheriff hat snugged tight on his head. Rayne took flank behind Daryl, clearing the rooms to the right of the door. Daryl reached for the door knob of a small door in front of him only for it to be opened from the other side. Rick stood behind it gun drawn as he looked at the two hunters before him, bows at the ready. The three of them nod at one another before they part ways, the two hunters making their way upstairs to clear the rooms, T-Dog following behind.

The others make their way in from outside, settling in the living room. The three come down from upstairs having found nothing useful, Daryl however was plucking the feathers from an owl he had shot. Rayne sat on the floor beside him shaking her head lightly at the redneck as he quickly plucked the owl desperate for the meat inside.

Carl came into the room holding two cans of dog food which were promptly snatched from his hands by his father and thrown away. Rick knew they were all hungry, but he knew they weren't desperate enough to let his son start eating dog food.

Suddenly T-Dog got their attention from the window where we was posted, walkers were coming their way. They gathered up their things and headed out the back door Daryl leading the way to the cars and Rayne bringing up the rear. They loaded all their things up again, pausing for Maggie to grab a nearby axe and then taking off for somewhere else. During the winter they had come across a silver Dodge pickup truck, so they now had two trucks, the suburban, the car and the motorcycle.

* * *

They drove out of the congested neighborhood, stopping a ways down the road to look over the map. Beth was at the rear and Carl stood on point of the caravan keeping watch, Titan sat by the open door of the suburban where Lori was sitting in the front seat. Rayne had made him stay by the woman's side all winter and now he never left her side unless he was called by his owner.

"We got no place left to go." T-Dog observes the map carefully.

"When this herd meets up with this one, we'll be cut off." Maggie points out the circles they had drawn on the map of different herds they had come across as Rayne looked over her shoulder. "We'll never make it south."

"What would you say? That was about 150 head?" Daryl leans on the car next to T-Dog addressing Glenn on the opposite side.

"That was last week. It could be twice that by now."

"This river could have delayed them." Hershel pointed out. "If we move fast, we might have a shot to tear right through there."

"Yeah, but if this group joins with that one, they could spill out this way." T-Dog reminds them.

"So we're blocked?" Rayne says eyeing the map.

Rick steps forward, "Only thing to do is double back at 27 and swing toward Greenville."

T-Dog sighs straightening up, "Yeah, we picked through that already. It's like we spent the winter going in circles."

Rick nods, "Yeah, I know. I know. At Newnan we'll push west. Haven't been through there yet. We can't keep going house to house. Need to find someplace to hole up for a few weeks." He glances up at Lori sitting in the Suburban, they all know what he's thinking about.

"All right. Is it cool if we get to the creek before we head out? Won't take long. We got to fill up on water. We can boil it later."

"Knock yourself out." Rick tells T-Dog as the bigger man moves for the canteens.

Hershel explains to Rick that Lori can't take much more moving about, Rick knows that, but he's at a loss of what to do about it.

Daryl steps up to him flanked by Rayne, "Hey, while the others wash their panties, let's go hunt. That owl didn't exactly hit the spot."

* * *

The three of them make their way into the woods, following a set of train tracks. They happen upon an open area to their right, the site before them stopping the trio in their tracks. Rayne blinks a few times, hoping to God she's not seeing things she hollers to the men. "Please tell me you two see what I see?"

"That's a shame," she hears Daryl say but she notices Rick has paused and is looking just like she is. Across the river below them is a prison, 30 or so walkers in the enclosed field, easily could be taken out.

"Are you thinkin' what I am boss?" As she sees the smile spread across Rick's face she knows he's right on her train of thought.

* * *

They go back up to the cars and grabs the others, the sighs of relief and joy are a welcome sound to them all. As they near the fence Rick pulls out a set of bolt cutters and clips the outside fence open, while Glenn and Rayne take care of the walkers that get too close. Once open Rick ushers the others inside the fence line, and Glenn closes the gap threading wire through it to hold it shut.

They make their way through the catwalk between the two fences, walkers from inside and outside slam the fences trying to get to them. Once they reach the front entrance gate they pause waiting for Rick to give out orders.

"It's perfect. If we can shut that gate, prevent more from filling the yard, we can pick off these walkers. We'll take the field by tonight." Rick points to a gate some 150 feet away by the guard tower that separates the yard and the courtyard.

"So how do we shut the gate?" Hershel questions.

"I'll do it. You guys cover me." Of course Glenn is the first to volunteer, he always is.

"No. It's a suicide run." Maggie tells him, not willing to have her boyfriend put in harms way.

"I'm the fastest." He argues, even though he knows he'll lose.

"No, you, Maggie and Beth draw as many as you can over there." He points to the right towards the prison. "Pop 'em through the fence. Daryl, go back to the other tower. Carol, you've become a pretty good shot. Take your time. We don't have a lot of ammo to waste. Hershel you and Carl take this tower. I'll run for the gate."

"Don't sound so depressed boss. I'm right behind ya." Rayne gives him a grin as she twirls her Kukris in her hands, her rifle and bow secured to her back.

* * *

Lori grabs the gate in front of them ready to open it on their mark, they have a bit of coverage right in front of them from a prison bus on its side. They make their way inside, Rick holding his gun out in front of him popping anything that gets close and Rayne is right on his heels slicing walkers heads in half. Daryl pegs a walker in the head from the far tower as it comes up behind Rayne earning a nod of thanks from her. Rick and Rayne slam to a halt as a shot hits the ground in front of them, they both look up at Carol as she yells out, "Sorry."

Rick runs for the gate, kicking a walker back inside he slams it shut securing it with the chain Glenn gave to him. Rayne covers his back taking off two walker's heads then smashing the skulls with her boots. She opens the door beside them to the tower, from behind her Rick shoots the walker inside as they make their way to the top. As they reach the top they hear Daryl yell, "Light it up!"

Rayne pulls her rifle off her back and together they all start taking out the walkers in the field. She turns to Rick, they both laugh as they realize that this crazy ass plan just worked.

* * *

They all meet up in the field everyone rejoicing how good all this room feels to them. Rayne tumbles to the ground relishing in the feel of the grass, she feels someone block her sun and looks up into the amused face of Daryl.

"Care to join me?" She smiles and he laughs laying down beside her feeling so relaxed.

* * *

After checking to make sure every walker was dead, Daryl, Rayne, T-Dog, Maggie and Glenn went back up to retrieve the cars pulling them inside the fence between the two gates facing out for a quick getaway they hoped they wouldn't need.

* * *

As night fell the group built a fire off the gravel path in towards the middle of the field. Rayne was in the tower by the main gate, sitting on the edge of the walkway her legs dangling over the side watching the woods. Below her Daryl stood on the overturned bus pacing back and forth watching the woods same as she was. Rayne watched as Rick circled the perimeter of the fence up by the prison for the third time, if there was a breach he would've found it by now.

Movement below caught Rayne's attention and she glanced down as she saw Daryl hang his crossbow over his back and help Carol up onto the bus, she held a plate of food for him in one hand. He gladly takes it from her as she hands it to him.

"It's not much, but if I don't bring you something, you won't eat at all. Rayne already gave her share to Lori, I swear that girl hasn't eaten in eight months everything she gets goes to momma and baby."

A concerned look passes Daryl's face, he hadn't noticed that, which was odd because he paid attention to everything Rayne did. "Yeah, I guess little Shane over there has got quite the appetite."

Carol chuckles, "Don't be mean. Rick's gotten us a lot farther than I ever thought he would, I'll give him that."

"Mm-hmm." Daryl nods as he finishes off the food.

"Shane could never have done that." She rolls her shoulders earning a look from Daryl.

"What's wrong?"

"It's that rifle. The kickback." She rubs her right shoulder and back trying to ease some pain. "I'm just not used to it."

"Hold on." He sets down his plate and after licking his fingers he motions her over and rubs her shoulder working out the muscles.

Rayne can see the smirk on Carol's face from above, the huntress could say so many smart assed things right now but restrains herself. Daryl finishes, cleares his throat and tells her they should get back.

And it turns out Carol was on Rayne's wave length cause just then the huntress heard, "It's pretty romantic. Want to screw around?"

Rayne covers her mouth holding in the laugh she has, the look on Daryl's face is priceless as he looks at Carol. "Pfft," he scoffs leaning down, "I'll go down first."

"Even better."

Rayne is now rolling with laughter, biting her tongue so hard she can feel blood. Carol has really surprised her, but more so she surprised Daryl and Rayne found that funnier than anything.

* * *

Ten minutes later Rayne is still rocked with small giggles thinking about Daryl's face. She's so caught up in laughter she doesn't hear Daryl until he sits down beside her. She turns giving him a raised eyebrow and he returns her look with a glare.

"What?"

"That was so cute. I can't believe you passed up that offer." Rayne laughed out loud as Daryl shoved her angrily, but he had a ghost of a smile on his lips.

"Jealous?" He taunted hoping it would get under her skin.

"In your dreams redneck."

"You are in my dreams."

That murmured comment brought Rayne to a sudden halt, she turned her head hoping she would see a smile on his face that told her he was joking. There wasn't one. She cleared her throat suddenly feeling as though she had cotton mouth. "Daryl, we've been over this. I'm no good for you, I'm damaged beyond repair. You deserve someone who can give you all of them, and that's not me. Carol's a good woman, she can give you everythin' you want."

She reaches her hand up to rub her neck and work out the kinks but freezes when she feels Daryl's hand touch the back of her neck. Her breath catches and she starts to breath heavily, her body shaking as she feels Daryl slide behind her, his legs coming to rest against the outside of her thighs. She feels his breath on her neck as he pulls her long hair over her left shoulder, "Relax Rayne. I will never hurt you."

She nods closing her eyes and slowing her breathing, she focuses on Daryl's hands as they massage her shoulders and neck releasing all the knots and tension that has been building up over the last eight months. She feels her eyes getting heavy as she relaxes more and more, she hadn't felt this good in so long.

She felt him shift behind her as his chest came to rest against her back. She turned her head wondering what he was up to when his left hand touched her cheek and his lips locked onto hers. Shockingly to Rayne her first instinct was not to pull away but move closer, that was not her usual reaction and it scared her. She pushed herself closer to him, liking the way his strong right arm wrapped around her shoulders effectively pinning her in place. His tongue slid across her bottom lip and she opened her mouth in reaction allowing his tongue to slip into her mouth. He explored every inch of her mouth as he ravaged her lips, his scruff rubbing against her skin was a pleasurable torment to Rayne.

She was baffled, she knew from her talks with him that he was a virgin, but obviously he wasn't in every sense of the word. He had learned to use his mouth and use it well, it made her wonder just how well he could use it and where. She stopped those thoughts right in their tracks, that was not something to be thinking about right now. 'Think more with your head and less with your kitty' she told herself referring to her intimate parts.

Several long minutes later, Daryl pulled back from her, he sat staring into her eyes, rubbing her cheek with his thumb. They were both breathing hard and trying to retrieve some of the precious oxygen they had deprived themselves. She realized as she looked into those deep blue eyes that with that kiss he was telling her she was the one he wanted.

"You're only beyond repair if ya choose to be. When you decide ya want a good man, ya know where to find me."

With that Daryl stood up and after kissing the top of Rayne's head he went back down the tower and inside the gates to the group. Rayne watched him go, touching her lips with her fingertips she groaned and fell backwards onto the walkway with a loud sigh, things had just gotten more complicated.

* * *

The next morning the group stood by the gate into the courtyard, Rick, Daryl, Rayne, Maggie, Glenn and T-Dog stood by with their weapons ready to clear it out. Rick grabbed the fence unhooking the chain, after nodding to Hershel the elder man yanked it open and the group of 6 moved inside in a circle their backs together. The other tried to distract and kill some of the walkers from outside of the fence. The group moved deeper inside the courtyard taking out every walker that came close to them but never breaking rank, that was until T-Dog broke rank to retrieve a riot shield. They reached the door they were heading for but as Rick looked around the corner, a slew of walkers were inside another small area, they needed to shut the gate and lock them in.

Just as Rick was going for it a couple of walkers in riot gear came out from behind a dumpster in front of them, then two more out of the fenced area in front of them, and finally one in a gas mask out of the door next to them. Daryl fired an arrow at one but it simply bounced off the shield. Rick, Rayne and T charged the walkers ahead of them, while Daryl pulled his knife to take care of the one next to them, but Maggie tried slicing her machete down it its face and the blade just bounced off.

"Daryl!" The hunter moved over stabbing a female walker in the head, he grabbed the fence and helped Rick pull it shut securing it with a chain.

The guys turned to Maggie and Rayne fighting side by side having no luck with the walkers until Rayne grabbed the helmet pulling the mask up and Maggie jammed her knife into its neck. Maggie stared at the group wide-eyed, "Ya see that?!" The guys realized how to kill them and quickly Glenn and T-Dog dispatched the one they had, Daryl stabbed one in the back of the head and Rick knocked one down peeling the gas mask off along with the walkers flesh and stabbing his knife down through its face. Maggie dispatched the last one with a knife up through its chin.

They stood for a moment taking in the scene, making sure no walkers were still moving about. Rick tells the group they have to push inside, make sure there are no blind spots they haven't covered yet. The walk into the fenced in catwalk and up to the door, Rick pushes it open and moves inside, Daryl following crossbow at the ready. They move in pushing open the steel door in front of them, it protests with a squeak, while Glenn shuts the door behind them. Inside is an empty room with a couple tables and a guard tower with what looks like a walker inside.

The group spreads out covering the room and checking the doors, while Rick and Rayne venture up the stairs to the tower. The guard in the tower is long since dead and pleasantly Rick finds keys to the building clipped to his belt. He holds up the keys, down below Daryl nods, Rick makes his way down and over to the door leading into the cell block. The door is rusty and the metal aged as Rick unlocks it opening the steel door with a squeal. Daryl and Rayne move forward checking all the cells on the lower level, while Rick checks the door behind the stairs to make sure it's secure, the two hunters move up the stairs clearing the cells on the top level.

Rick runs up the other side of the stairs coming to back up the two, they find two walkers locked inside two adjacent cells, they claw at the air trying to reach them. The men dispatch of the walkers and unlock the cells tossing them down to the floor below where T-Dog happily takes them outside. He passes the rest of the group as they enter the cell block as they enter everyone looking around at their new surroundings. Everyone moves into a cell except for Daryl and Rayne, neither one of them are gonna sleep in a cage.

Most of them take cells on the lower level, minus Carol and Lori who take one of the uppers in the far left corner. Daryl takes the perch at the top of the two stairs, Rayne takes the corner to his right by the cell doors, while Rick sits down against the wall on the ground.

* * *

The next morning Rick, Rayne, T-Dog, Glenn and Daryl look through the weapons and goodies they picked off the guards. There's a few bright flashlights, Flashbangs, CS Triple-Chasers.

"Not sure how they'd work on walkers, but we'll take 'em." Rick says setting them on the table.

Daryl picks up one of the riot helmets, Rayne smirks as walker goop from inside drips out onto him causing him to grimace. "I ain't wearin' this shit."

"We could boil 'em," T-Dog suggest as he holds up a particularly dripping boot.

"Ain't enough firewood in the forest. No. Besides, we made it this far without 'em, right?"

Rayne nods her head picking up her Kukris, "I'm with Daryl, we'll be fine."

* * *

Daryl pauses, a part of him wishes that statement were true in another way. He couldn't believe himself two nights ago, he had never been so bold with a woman before. But in reality no woman had ever meant a damn thing to him, not until he met Rayne. He knew she was heavily guarded, hell he was too, but he was determined, a hunter who always got his prey. He wanted Rayne and what Daryl Dixon wanted, he got.

He turns to hand her a flashlight but she declines. "How you gonna see?"

She smirks popping on her Oakley's that have now become clear lenses in the dark, she touches a small button on the right arm and Daryl sees two led lights turn on from the arms of the glasses.

"The military has such cool stuff. Transitioning lenses and built on flashlights."

He shakes his head at her smirk, yeah she was definitely intriguing to him.

* * *

Rick hands Carl the keys putting him in charge while their gone. Hershel, T-Dog, Maggie and Glenn fit themselves with the riot gear chest and back pads. Carl locks the cell door behind them as the head further into the prison. They move swiftly and silently down the corridors, Rick and Daryl on point and Rayne bringing up the rear with Maggie. Glenn marks an arrow on the wall with a spray can they found pointing them back in the direction of the cells.

Without warning the next corner they turn they are greeted by a group of walkers, the group backpedals heading back the way they came. But as Maggie and Glenn turn the corner back to the cells, more walkers appear in front of them. They run through the corridors blindly searching for a safe place. The group huddles inside a room, they find Glenn and Maggie have been separated from them. They head back out searching for the couple, Hershel hears his daughters voice and turns back the way they came. He steps over a body only for it to reach out and grabs his ankle tearing into the flesh of his leg. The rest come back around, Rick shoots the walker in the head and they grab Hershel heading wherever they can. Glenn and Maggie find them, they move to a door secured by handcuffs, T-Dog breaks them open and the group moves inside.

Daryl and T-Dog secure the doors while the others lay Hershel on the floor. "Rayne! Get over here!" Rick points to Hershel and she knows what needs to be done. "Rick take off your belt, wrap it around his upper thigh." Rick does as he's told, she leans back grabbing one of her Kukris off the floor. She eyes the man who has become like a grandfather to her, "Only one way to keep you alive. Please forgive me, Hershel." She brings the blade down instantly severing the flesh and bone in one swipe. Hershel's screams reach a crescendo as his leg is cut from his body. "He's bleedin' out." Rayne yells. "I need somethin' to cauterize the wound."

"Duck." She looks up at Daryl doing as he says, he quickly stands up pointing his bow at the cage behind her, she looks over seeing human inmates looking back at them.

One short blonde inmate looks to them unbelievingly, "Holy shit."


	20. Sick

**Disclaimer - I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

Thank you to all of you who have followed or favored myself and my story. I would love some reviews, let me know if you guys are liking my character and my interpretation of the series.

xoxo Tiearney

* * *

"Who the hell are you?" Daryl asks approaching the inmates behind the cage.

"He's bleedin' out. We gotta go back. Come around here Mags, put pressure on the knee. Hard, hard! Push, push." Rayne shows the frightened woman what to do as she eyes the inmates in the cage.

"Why don't you come on outta there. Slow and steady."

The inmates obey walking out looking down at Hershel's body on the ground. They don't seem to understand when they're told he was bit. The Mexican man in front pulls out a gun pointing it at Daryl, that's when T-Dog and Rayne step up both with guns drawn at the inmates. Glenn walks right past the men looking for medical supplies, the walkers outside are banging on the doors. Glenn brings out a rolling table, helping Rick lift Hershel onto it. T opens the door dispatching the walker outside and together the group pushes Hershel back down the corridors to the cell block.

* * *

Daryl, Rayne and T stay in the open room with their weapons trained on the door they came through waiting for the prisoners who followed them, while the others tend to Hershel. Rayne yells directions to Carol through the door, "Carol! Just keep his leg elevated, dress the wound as best as you can. He's gonna be fine, we just have to keep it clean."

Rayne and Daryl post up by one of the tables, bow's pointing at the door, waiting. The inmates step through the doorway moving cautiously into the room.

"That's far enough." Daryl tells them as they get just inside the door.

The cocky Mexican is bouncing on his toes, "Cell block C. Cell 4—that's mine, gringo. Let me in."

"Today's your lucky day, fellas. You've been pardoned by the state of Georgia. You're free to go." Daryl's bow never wavers from the men.

"What you got going on in there?"

"It ain't none of your concern." Rayne stands up moving towards the cell down blocking their view.

"Don't be telling me what's my concern," the Mexican pulls out his gun advancing on Rayne, Daryl stands up moving to intercept him.

"Chill man." The biggest one of them, a large black man steps up. "Dude's leg is messed up. Besides, we're free now. Why are we still in here?"

"The man's gotta point." Daryl quips.

"Yeah, and I gotta check on my old lady." The other tall black man says.

But Mr. Long Hair Mexican can't leave well enough alone. "A group of civilians breaking into a prison you got no business being in—got me thinking there ain't no place for us to go."

"Why don't you go found out?" Daryl growls just itching to shoot the man.

"Maybe we'll just be going now." The short blonde man says unsteady.

"Hey, we ain't leaving."

"You ain't coming in either." T says coming from underneath the staircase to their right his gun drawn.

"Hey, this is my house, my rules. I go where I damn well please."

Rick runs out of the cell block, Carl smartly locks the door behind him protecting the others.

"There ain't nothin' for you here. Why don't you go back to your own sandbox?" Daryl's voice is rising, he's getting tired of arguing with these men.

Rick runs around the corner, "Hey, everyone relax. There's no need for this."

"How many of you in there?" The Mexican obviously is the leader of this group.

"Too many for you to handle." Rick says vehemently.

"You guys rob a bank or something? Why don't you take him to a hospital?"

The four of them eye one another, they realize that these prisoners have no idea what is going on outside these walls.

"How long have you been locked in that cafeteria?" Rick asks.

"Going on like 10 months." The Mexican says clearly on edge.

* * *

They tell them what happened outside and the prisoners tell them what happened inside. They realize that everything they ever knew is now gone, friends, family, everything. The Mexican doesn't believe them, so the four take the prisoners out into the courtyard to show them with their own eyes. The prisoners then say the prison is theirs and they want the survivors out, which doesn't go over well with either party as weapons are drawn again. Rick makes a deal that the group will supply them with a few weapons, help them clear another cell block just for them and in return they'd give them half the food in the cafeteria.

The group's make their way back into the cafeteria the Mexican showing them where the food is.

"You never tried to break out of here?" T-Dog questions as he looks around.

"Yeah, we tried to take the doors off. But if you made one peep in here, then those freaks would be right outside the door, growling, trying to get in. Windows got bars on there that He-Man himself couldn't get through." The smaller black man named Oscar tells them.

"Bigger than a 5x8," the short blonde named Axel says.

"Won't find me complaining. Doing 15. My left leg can barely fit on one of those bunks." The bigger black man comically nicknamed Tiny tells them.

"Yeah, they don't call him Big Tiny for nothing," Oscar jokes.

"You done jerking each other off? Sick of waiting back here." The Mexican is standing by the opening to the pantry.

Rick's hand moves to his gun as he enters behind the prisoners, Daryl T and Rayne behind him. They look around at the racks of food all around them, Daryl shines his flashlight at the Mexican getting in his face, "This what you call a little bit of food?"

Rick opens a meat locker door, gagging at the stench inside of it, apparently it's what the men have been using for a bathroom. They grab some of the food and take it back to the group before returning to the inmates looking over the array of weapons scattered on the tables. They take their pick between axes, pick axes and pipes. The Mexican eyes the weapons pulling out his gun, "Why do I need this when I got this?"

"You don't fire guns, not unless your back's up against a wall. Noise attracts them. It really riles them up." Daryl tells them just wanting this to be over and rid of them.

"We'll go in two by two. Daryl will run point with T." Rick looks around making sure they got it, "I'll bring up the back with you." He points to the small black man with the big mouth. "Rayne bring up the rear, watch your back."

"You got it boss."

"Stay tight, hold formation no matter how close the walkers get. Anyone breaks ranks, we could all go down. Anyone runs off, they could get mistaken for a walker, end up with an axe to the head."

"And that's where you aim. These things only go down with a head shot." Daryl tells them.

"You ain't gotta tell us how to take out a man." Mexican man says.

Rayne scoffs, "They ain't men. They're somethin' else. Just remember to go for the brain."

* * *

They head off into the catacombs, holding ranks like they were told. Daryl is up front giving out orders, "You gotta hold the weapon out in front of you. You'll hear 'em before you see 'em." Daryl pauses them at a corner, they can hear several walkers ahead of them, he slowly counts to three but as he barely reaches two the inmates scream charging the walkers. The four others stand by watching as the inmates pummel the walkers but none of them hitting anywhere near the heads.

Rayne tilts her head turning it to the side, giving Rick a raised eyebrow, as they watch the prisoners. The huntress shakes her head pinching the bridge of her nose, muttering to the others. "Idiots."

The two hunters lead the group again, shooting two walkers in the head, then Daryl turns to the prisoners. "It's gotta be the brain. Not the stomach, not the heart—the brain."

The next two walkers are taken out by Axel and Oscar, to the head just as they were told, and the third one Rick dispatches with his knife to the brain. "Stay in tight formation. No more prison riot crap."

The walkers start filing through the door one by one and the prisoners take them out. No one notices Tiny has backed away from the group until they hear his scream as he is stabbed by a walker. Rick moves over to help him with the two walkers that are converging on him, instead shots ring out as the Mexican shoots the walkers with his gun. They stand there arguing about saving Tiny's life, none of the prisoners understanding that he can be saved and they need to end his life. As they are arguing the Mexican comes up stabbing Tiny in the head, ending the argument, then proceeding to bludgeon the man's head until there is nothing left but a puddle of blood and brain matter.

Daryl and Rayne eye one another as the Mexican stares them all down covered in blood. They continue down the hallway T on point, Rick, Daryl and Rayne bring up the rear watching the group cautiously.

Daryl leans into Rick, "You see the look on his face?"

"He makes one move…"

"Just give me a signal."

* * *

They enter the laundry room, T shuts the door behind them as they approach the double doors on the other side of the room. Daryl takes out his keys tossing them on the floor at the Mexican's feet.

"I ain't opening that." He eyeballs the keys and the door in turn.

"Yes, you are," Rick informs him. "If you want this cell block, you're gonna open that door. Just the one, not both of them. Because we need to control this."

He picks up the keys, the other readying themselves for the onslaught, "You bitches ready?" He tries to open the door but it won't budge, he yanks on it twice more, opening both doors at once.

"I said one door!" Rick yells moving to the left side of the doors.

"Shit happens."

They take out the walkers as they push into the room, Rayne sees the Mexican swing and barely miss Rick's face, then she sees the man grab a walker and push it on Rick.

"Rick!" She runs over grabbing the walker by the back of the shirt pulling it away from Rick's face.

"T, mind the gap." Daryl yells as he runs over stabbing the walker in the head with an arrow, then helping Rick off the floor while Rayne tosses the body off to the side. Just as they stand up the last walker is killed.

The Mexican shrugs, "It was coming at me, bro."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. I get it. Shit happens." The two stand there waiting for one to make a move, and the first one to is Rick, slamming his machete down into the top of the man's head. He shoves him off the blade with his foot and turns as the small black guy comes at him with a bat, then thinks better of it and takes off running, Rick takes off after him.

Daryl orders Oscar on his knees, the three of them holding the two prisoners at bay. Oscar doesn't bothering with pleading, hell, Axel was doing that enough for the both of them. Rick took pity on the two men left, telling them they could live but if they came near their group they would be killed no questions asked.

* * *

The four of them return back to their cell block, checking in on Hershel who stopped breathing but Lori brought him back. He opened his eyes, looking around at them all, it was a welcome sight. He smiled to Rayne, she nodded knowing he was thanking her for saving his life.


	21. Killer Within

**Disclaimer - I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

Thank you to all of you who have followed or favored myself and my story. I would love some reviews, let me know if you guys are liking my character and my interpretation of the series.

xoxo Tiearney

* * *

The next few days were relatively calm, no problems with the two prisoners. Hershel was doing better everyday, they could see he was getting restless being confined to the bed.

Rayne was outside with Carol moving the vehicles inside the fence line, lining them up incase they needed a quick getaway.

"We'll park them in the west entry of the yard." Rick tells them.

Daryl drops the chain he was holding, "Good. Our vehicles camped out there look like a giant "vacancy sign"."

"After that, we need to load up these corpses so we can burn 'em." Rick says motioning around the yard.

T sighs echoing each of their thoughts, "Gonna be a long day."

"Where's Glenn and Maggie? We could use some help."

Rayne smirks at Carol, so clueless sometimes, before she points to the guard tower by the courtyard, "Up in the guard tower."

"Guard tower?" Rick looks to the woman he now considers like his daughter, the amusement is apparent in his voice. "They were just up there last night."

"Glenn! Maggie!" Daryl hollers.

Glenn opens the door just edging out, he's shirtless but holding up his pants. "Hey, what's up, guys?"

The five of them smile, Daryl smirks, "You comin'?"

"What?" Glenn isn't sure he heard Daryl right as he fastens his belt.

"You comin'?" The hunter reiterates.

Glenn is quiet, he's not sure which coming Daryl is referring too.

"Come on Tarzan and Jane, we could use a hand." Rayne smirks as she catches Maggie flipping her off. "Love you too Mags!"

"We'll be right down." Glenn says as Maggie mutters, "So gross."

* * *

The five turn to walk away, Rayne sighs, "Well at least someone's gettin' some."

"Is that an offer Rayne?" His raised eyebrows and smirk make Rayne want to punch him in the face.

"You know Dixon, you're gettin' a lil too comfortable with me. I liked it better when you weren't so friendly."

The rest of them laugh at the two as they head for the cars, T stops them, looking up into the courtyard where Oscar and Axel are standing. The smiles drop from their faces as they march up the road behind Rick towards the men. They make their case, saying the fence on the far side of the building and more walkers are getting in every time they turn around. They state they are good men and all they want is a chance to prove it. Rick looks to Daryl for his opinion, the hunter shakes his head no. They end up locking the two men in the area between the front gates.

* * *

The six of the take a meeting behind the bus, Rick turns to T, "Are you serious? You want them living in a cell next to you? They'll just be waiting for a chance to grab our weapons. You want to go back to sleeping with one eye open?"

"I never stopped." T tells him honestly. "Bring them into the fold. If we send them off packing, we might as well execute them ourselves."

Glenn hesitates, "I don't know. Axel seems a little unstable."

"After all we've been through?" Carol asks. "We fought so hard for this, what if they decide to take it?"

"It's just been us for so long. They're strangers. I don't—it feels weird all of a sudden having other people around." Maggie offers her point of view.

"You brought us in." T reminds her.

"Yeah, but you turned up with a shot boy and woman in your arms. Didn't give us a choice."

"They can't even kill walkers," Glenn says.

"They're convicts, bottom line." Carol replies.

"Those two might actually have less blood on their hands than we do." T tells them.

Daryl jumps in, "I get guys like this. Hell, I grew up with 'em. They're degenerates, but they ain't psychos. I could have been in there with them just as easy as I'm out here with you guys."

"So are you with me?" T asks.

"Hell, no. Let 'em take their chances out on the road just like we did."

"What I'm saying, Daryl—"

Rick interrupts T, "When I was a rookie, I arrested this kid. 19 years old, wanted for stabbing his girlfriend. The kid blubbered like a baby during the interrogation, during the trial—suckered the jury. He was acquitted due to insufficient evidence and then, two weeks later, shot another girl. We've been through too much. Our deal with them stands."

They round up all the bodies stacking them into piles around the yard. "Move the cars to the upper yard. Point them facing out. They'll be out of the way but ready to go if we ever need to bail. We'll give the prisoners a weeks worth of supplies for the road."

"Might not last a week," T reminds Rick as they walk back.

"It's their choice."

"Did they really have one?"

"Hey, hey—whose blood would you rather have on your hands—Maggie's, Glenn's, or theirs?"

"Neither."

Maggie, T, Carol and Rayne drive the vehicles in, while Daryl grabs his bike taking them up to the upper yard. While the others park the cars, Rick, Glenn and Daryl head out to the opening in the fence line, Glenn spots a walker across the water. "Should I take her out?"

"No. If that armory hadn't been picked clean, we could spare the ammo."

"I'll start making runs with Rayne. The sooner the better." Rick nods at Daryl's suggestion, before he turns to Glenn, "We'll throw as much wood as we can in the dog run."

Daryl watches the woods while Rick and Glenn gather wood. As they come back into the dog run Daryl nods to the courtyard, "Looky here."

They all smile as they see Hershel on his crutches at the fence line. "He is one tough son of a bitch." Glenn chuckles, "Alright Hershel."

"Keep your cheers down." Glenn blushes as he is scolded by Daryl who points to the walkers coming out of the woods. The kid sighs, "Oh man, can't we just have one good day?"

Suddenly they all hear Carl's frantic scream, "Walkers! Look out!"

Rick and Daryl run for the gate as Glenn struggles to close the opening in the fence. Gunshots ring out as the group up top tries to fend off the hoard.

Rayne covers the others as they run for the gates, they make it inside safely, Maggie is with Carl and Lori, and Carol is with Hershel and Beth. "That gate is open." T yells to Rayne, she follows his lead as they make their way over picking off walkers. T grabs the gate shutting it again, using his belt to secure it while Rayne is shutting the door, neither of them see the walker behind T until it's too late. T's scream fills the air as the walker bites into his right shoulder tearing the flesh from his body.

"No!" Rayne grabs T dragging him inside the open door next to her as walkers converge on them.

* * *

Rick, Daryl and Glenn reach the yard, they find that the chains holding the gate shut had been cut. Then suddenly the alarms start blaring loudly drawing every walker out of the woods to them, Daryl looks around, "Oh—you gotta be kidding me!" He's distraught not knowing where Rayne is or if anyone's hurt.

They take out as many of the speakers outside that they can, but the alarm keeps going. Rick points a gun at the two prisoners asking how this could be happening, to which they reply it has to be the backup generators. Oscar says he knows where the generators are so he leads the others inside to shut them down.

* * *

Inside T is leading Rayne through the tombs, "There's a set of double doors that will lead to a corridor that'll get you to our cell block."

"T, you should stop, you're bleedin' out."

"I'm getting you there!"

"T, stop!"

"Why? Sit here and wait to die? Uh-uh."

"I'll do what I have to. You're not becomin' one of those things."

"I can't ask that."

"It's the pact, remember?"

"This is God's plan. He'll take care of me. Always has. He's gonna help me lead you out of these tombs."

* * *

The guys run back into the cell block, there is no sign of any of the group. They split up to look for the others, and whoever gets to the generators first they shut them down.

* * *

Rayne wraps T's arm around her shoulder as they head down the halls, the lights flickering on and off. T looks down the hall in front of them, "We're almost there." Two walkers turn the corner in front of them blocking their escape, Rayne holds up the gun but only a clicking sound resounds, it's empty. "Shit! Go back!" She yells tossing the gun to the ground, grabbing her Kukris. T shakes his head lowering her arms, "No, we're close. We're close! I got this." He charges the walkers shoving them against the wall behind them. "Go! Go! Go! Get out!" Rayne runs past looking back as the walkers tear into her friends body ripping out his throat. "Go! I'm dead!" Against her better judgment she does as he says, pushing open the doors and running.

* * *

Rick, Daryl and Oscar run into the generator room, "Daryl, get the door!" Rick moves into the room looking at the engines, "How do you shut these down?"

The hunter nods, "Go help him. I got it."

Oscar shows him the levers to pull, just as Rick goes to shut the other one off Andrew, the small black guy he thought was dead comes at him with an axe. Rick and Andrew tussle ending up on the ground fighting to reach Rick's gun on the floor. Daryl finally can't hold the door shut anymore, he backs up letting the door swing open. Grabbing his bow he shoots the first walker in the head, then pulls out his knife stabbing the next in the eye, he gets a break on the door and is able to shut it fully closed.

Just as Andrew is poised to bring his axe down on Rick, he's hit with a barrel by Oscar, then the man picks up Rick's gun pointing it at Rick. The smaller man stands up, "Shoot him! We can take back this prison. What you waiting for? Do it! It's our house. Shoot him!" Oscar moves the gun from Rick and shoots Andrew in the head. Daryl stands to Oscar side, he's shaking with adrenaline, his knife up and ready to kill the man. Oscar hands the gun back to Rick, who them shuts the generators down and they head back to find the others.

* * *

They make their way back meeting up with Glenn and Axel along the way and killing to walkers feasting on T's body. Looking to the ground Daryl picks up Rayne's bandana she had around her neck. They run outside finding Hershel, Beth and Carol standing on the upper steps.

"You didn't find them?" Hershel asks, they shake their heads. "What about T? Rayne?"

"They didn't make it." Daryl growls out, not believing his own words where Rayne is concerned, she's alive he can feel it.

Rick whirls around, "That doesn't mean the others didn't. We're going back. Daryl and Glenn, you come with—"

An infants cries break the silence, they turn to find Maggie and Carl coming out of the other door to their cell block, Maggie is cradling the baby. Both of their hands and Maggie's arms are covered in blood. Maggie tentatively approaches Rick not knowing what to say, her bottom lip is trembling as sobs wrack her body.

He approaches Carl and by the look in his son's eyes he knows what has happened, he breaks, falling to the ground sobbing uncontrollably. Maggie stumbles into Glenn's arms, she can barely keep herself from trembling as he holds her and the baby close. No one moves, none of them knowing what to do or say.


	22. Say the Word

**Disclaimer - I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

Thank you to all of you who have followed or favored myself and my story. I would love some reviews, let me know if you guys are liking my character and my interpretation of the series.

xoxo Tiearney

* * *

Rick hasn't said a word since he found out about Lori, he's been sitting on his knees staring off into space. Maggie hands the little girl to Carl, Hershel asks to see the baby so the boy walks over to the elder man.

Daryl comes over, "What are we gonna feed it? We got anythin' a baby can eat?"

Hershel gives her a once over, "The good news is she looks healthy. But she needs formula. And soon or she won't survive."

"Nope. No way. Not her." Daryl says firmly says putting his crossbow over his back. "We ain't losin' nobody else. I'm going for a run."

"I'll back you up," Maggie chokes out still reeling.

"I'll go, too." Glenn says.

"Okay, think where we're goin'. Beth." The girl turns to the hunter as he pulls her aside. "Kid just lost his mom. His dad ain't lookin' so hot."

"I'll look out for him."

"You two get the fence. Too many pile up, we got ourselves a problem. Glenn, Maggie, vamonos." Daryl directs traffic.

Rick stands up grabbing an axe and heading inside the building alone, the others watch him go not knowing what to do.

"Get the gate." Daryl tells the two prisoners, turning back he sees that no one is moving. "Come on, we're gonna lose the light."

Maggie and Glenn follow Daryl running over to the vehicles, Glenn remembers seeing someplace they could go, "There's a Piggly Wiggly on 85."

"No, the baby section's been cleared," Maggie tells him. "Lori asked me to keep an eye out. I haven't had much luck."

"Is there any place that hasn't been completely looted?" Daryl takes off his crossbow strapping it to the front of his bike.

"We saw signs for a shopping center just north of here."

"Yeah, but there's too much debris on the road. A car will never get through that." Maggie reminds them.

Daryl sighs putting on his vest, "I can take one a ya."

"I'll go."

"No, Maggie, after everything that you've been through, okay, I'll go."

"I want to go. For Lori, I have to."

"Okay." Glenn grabs her backpack and turns back holding her face, "I love you. Be safe."

"I will." She hops on the back of the bike as Daryl heads down the road towards town.

* * *

Truthfully Daryl did care about the baby, but he also needed some time to think. His mind kept flashing to images of Rayne being ripped apart, becoming one of those things and he'd end up having to kill her. He shook his head, 'No, she's strong. She's alive. She's somewhere in that prison waiting for him to find her. And when he got back, he was going to.'

* * *

What Daryl didn't know was that he was exactly right, Rayne was alive. After T had fallen she made her way towards the cell block, but as she neared the last corner a group of walkers cut her off, she tried to go back but another group cut her off. She drew her Kukris hacking away at every one that came near her, she wasn't even aiming for the heads just trying to keep them away from her. Her Kukris were knocked from her hands, she scrambled across the floor to get them back. Grabbing her hunting knives from her boots she stabbed one into a walkers neck but before she can pull it out the body is ripped from her along with her knife.

"Shit!" She pulls out her other one scrambling backwards towards her Kukris, she stabs for another walker but her arm is grabbed and jerked from its socket by a walker trying to take a bite out of her. Lucky for her, her Kevlar sleeves protected her arm, she kicks the walker off of her and looks down at her unhurt arm, "Not exactly the way I wanted to test these." She scoots back finding her Kukris and standing up she faces the remaining 7 walkers, she twirls the blades, "Come and get it." One by one they fall, each decapitated head still snapping at her from the floor. Once they are all down she stabs each one in the head making sure they stay down.

Exhaustion and fatigue start to set in, she grabs the wall as a wave of dizziness hits her. Thinking now is the time to move she starts back towards the cell block, only to be blocked again by a group of walkers, "Fuck! Where the hell are you comin' from?" There's no way she can take them on in her weakened state, so she backs herself into a room shutting the door behind her and praying someone is looking for her.

* * *

In town Daryl and Maggie find a day care center, they enter hoping to find everything they need. Maggie opens a cabinet finding bottles, diapers and burp rags, she stuffs them into the backpack. The two make their way down the hallway checking the rooms, they converge on a half door with the bottom closed as they hear a banging inside. Daryl sticks his flashlight in his mouth, in his left hand he holds a doll for the baby and his crossbow in the other. He opens the door moving inside, he nods to the pantry doors as he readies his crossbow. Maggie opens the door, a possum sitting on the shelf hisses at them, Daryl pegs it with a bolt.

"Hello, dinner."

Maggie turns away, "I'm not putting that in my bag." She opens a cabinet finding two cans of powdered baby formula.

* * *

It's nightfall by the time the two return to the prison, they can hear the baby crying as they come in the cell block. Maggie and Beth set out making a bottle while Daryl of all people takes the baby from Carl, cradling the infant in his arms. Beth hands Daryl the bottle as he tilts it gently to the baby's mouth. "Shh. Come on. Come on." The crying stops as she finds the bottle, the group standing around smiles, more so at the fact that big bad hunter Daryl is holding the tiny baby girl.

Daryl chuckles as he rocks the little one, he turns to Carl, "She got a name yet?"

"Mmm, not yet. But I was thinking maybe Sophia." Carol's face is grim but a small smile crosses her face at Carl's suggestion. "Then there's Rayne."

Daryl's heart clenches at the sound of her name, he felt like he had let her down. He said he'd protect her, she watched his back, he'd watch hers. He shook his head blinking his eyes rapidly, trying not to let the small tears show.

Carl sighs, "And… Andrea. Amy. Jacqui. Patricia. Or… Lori. I don't know."

Daryl smiles down at the baby as she looks up at him, "Yeah… You like that? Huh? Little ass-kicker. Right? That's a good name, right?" He looks around at the group as they all laugh. "Little ass-kicker. You like that, huh? You like that, sweetheart?"

* * *

That night as the sun goes down Daryl walks out to the three new graves outside. He pulls a Cherokee rose from inside of his jacket and lays it down on top of the freshly dug grave marked with a stone R. He gently touches the cross before standing up and heading back inside.


	23. Hounded

**Disclaimer - I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

Thank you to all of you who have followed or favored myself and my story. I would love some reviews, let me know if you guys are liking my character and my interpretation of the series.

Thank you to **NicoleR85** & **ANGEL LOVE 1728 **for their reviews :)

xoxo Tiearney

* * *

The group is sitting in the common room eating breakfast as Rick comes in. He looks no worse for the wear, actually he cleaned himself up a bit. He comes in to check on Carl, then leaves just as quickly as he came.

They all make plans for the day, Glenn and Maggie are gonna make a run into town for more formula and Daryl is gonna sweep the lower levels.

Daryl heads down to the lower levels with Oscar and Carl for backup, they come across a door that's pulsing, like something inside is pushing on it. "Check it out." Oscar says to Daryl, holding the flashlight for the hunter. "Must have missed it last night."

"It's probably just one or two of 'em. Don't look like they got much fight." He presses a finger to the door shutting it easily, "They ain't goin' nowhere. We'll take care of it on the way back." Daryl eyes Carl standing against the wall, he whistles catching the kid's attention. "Come on." They split up Oscar going around the other way, and Carl with Daryl.

"You know, my mom, she liked her wine. She liked to smoke in bed. Virginia Slims." He checked the doors as they walked along. "I was playin' out with the kids in the neighborhood. I could do that with Merle gone. They had bikes, I didn't. We heard sirens gettin' louder. Ya, they jumped on their bikes, ran after it, you know, hopin' to see somethin' worth seein'. I ran after them but couldn't keep up. I ran around a corner and saw my friends lookin' at me. Hell, I saw everybody lookin' at me. Fire trucks everywhere. People from the neighborhood. It was my house they were there for. It was my mom in bed burnt down to nothing. That was the hard part. You know, she was just gone. Erased. Nothing left of her. People said it was better that way." Daryl chuckled. "Just made it seem like it wasn't real, you know?"

Carl sighs heavily, "I shot my mom. She was out. Hadn't turned yet. I ended it. It was real. Sorry about your mom."

"I'm sorry about yours. Come on."

They make their way down the corridor till something in a cell catches Oscar's attention. "Oh, yeah. That's what I'm talking about. Yeah, buddy." He leans down picking up a pair of plaid slippers.

"What the hell you need slippers for?"

"You know, end of the day, relaxing."

Daryl looks at him like he's crazy, he turns at the sound of growling behind him, in the doorway stands a walker, the three of them fire at it at once. Daryl nods, blowing out a few breaths of air as the adrenaline flows through him. "All right." Daryl approaches it, his flashlight beam lands on something sticking out of the walkers neck. He grabs the black handle sticking out of the flesh, pulling it out a rush of blood gushes out. It only takes a minute for him to recognize the hunting knife, "That's Rayne's knife." He wipes it off on the walkers clothes, holding it in his hand with the blade sticking out his face is one of fury.

* * *

After sending Carl and Oscar back to the cell block, Daryl sits down Indian style against the wall across from the door that he had passed earlier. He holds Rayne's knife in his right hand, his head bowed as he listens to the door pulse open and close. He slams the knife down against the floor, twice, the metallic sound echoing through the hall, lifting his head he leans back against the wall behind him. He slams the knife down hard enough to actually make a hole in the concrete floor, then he slams it against the wall behind him. Making his decision he stands up moving to the door he kicks it hard, then walks a few steps away breathing heavily.

He paces back and forth in front of the door twice before he places Rayne's knife in his mouth, grabbing the walker in front of the door he jerks it to the side. He swings open the door to find…

Nothing.

He looks puzzled until his gaze moves to the floor where he finds Rayne slumped against the wall. Her head rolls up, she looks up at him through half-lidded eyes, the smile that crosses her face makes Daryl's heart jump. He wastes no time, leaning down and scooping her up, her right arm around his shoulders. "Stay with me Rayne."

* * *

Sorry for the short chapter I promise the next will be longer.


	24. When the Dead Come Knocking

**Disclaimer - I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

Thank you to all of you who have followed or favored myself and my story. I would love some reviews, let me know if you guys are liking my character and my interpretation of the series.

Thank you to **NicoleR85** & **ANGEL LOVE 1728 **for their reviews :)

xoxo Tiearney

* * *

Daryl comes into the common area to find Rick kneeled over a black woman on the floor. "Who the hell is this?"

Rick asks if she wants to tell them her name, she does nothing but glare back at Rick.

"Y'all come on in here."

Rick stands up, "Everything alright?"

"You're gonna wanna see this."

* * *

Everyone follows Daryl into the cell block leaving the black woman on the floor, he locks the door behind them. He then leads them over to a cell by the stairs, Rick walks in first to find a smiling Rayne looking up at him. The look on Rick's face is disbelieving at first, like he's seeing his own daughter for the first time after thinking she was dead, then he smiles as she stands up and he embraces her.

"Thank God. Thank God. Thank God." He whispers each time kissing her cheek.

He passes her to Hershel, "How?"

"Solitary," Rayne says her voice horse as she hugs the man who is like her own grandpa.

"Poor thing fought her way into a cell. Must have passed out. Dehydrated." Daryl tells the others, as Rayne pulls away catching sight of the baby in Beth's arms.

She smiles looking back at Rick but it fades when she sees him slowly shaking his head, she realizes then that Lori didn't make it. She covers her mouth, the reality of it causing tears to fill her eyes as she takes Rick's face in her hands. "I'm so sorry." She steps forward gently taking the baby from Beth and cradling the little girl in her arms. Daryl smiles as he memorizes the scene before him, Rayne holding the baby girl, the smile on her face and the light in her eyes as she glances up at him.

* * *

Half an hour later she leans on Daryl as he helps her into the room where the new arrival is waiting. Her head snaps up when the woman says she found them when she witnessed two of their people getting abducted. She overheard them talking about the prison before they were taken. Rick grabs the side of her injured leg, she jumps up telling him not to touch her again.

"You'd better start talkin'. You're gonna have a much bigger problem than a gunshot wound."

Rayne steps up grabbing the front of Daryl's crossbow and pulling it down. She turns to Rick giving him a look, he nods stepping back letting her try. She sits down at the table in front of the woman, twirling her knives in her hands, Daryl had returned them to her earlier.

"You gonna threaten me?"

Rayne looks up giving the woman a raised eyebrow, "Should I? Cause I don't think it'd do any good." Rayne sets the knives on the table within reach of the woman. "I can tell just by lookin' at you, that we're very much alike, so if I were to threaten you it wouldn't get me anywhere. So I'm simply gonna ask. The two that were taken, Glenn and Maggie, they are my family. Now you don't care bout them, but I know you do care about the bastard that shot you. So it seems to me that we have the same problem. So if you help me get my friends back, I'll make sure you get your revenge."

The woman doesn't say anything clearly thinking over the words of the younger woman in front of her. "You came here for a reason."

The woman finally gives in, "There's a town. Woodbury. About 75 survivors. I think they were taken there. It's run by this guy who calls himself the Governor—pretty boy, charming, Jim Jones type."

"He got muscle?" Daryl asks.

"Paramilitary wannabes. They have armed sentries on every wall. The place is secure from walkers, but we could slip our way through."

"This is Hershel," Rick points to the elder man, "the father of the girl who was taken. He'll take care of that."

* * *

While Hershel tends to her wound the others have a small meeting, they decide to go after their friends. After arguing with her for several minutes Daryl realizes he's not going to talk Rayne out of going with them. He walks out loading the bags in the car, "I got the flash bangs and I got the tear gas. You never know what you're gonna need."

* * *

Rick, Oscar and the woman Michonne, she told Rayne her name several minutes before, piled in the car, while Daryl drove Rayne's truck with her sitting shotgun. They stopped on the side of the road, getting out and strapping on their weapons. Daryl helped Rayne down out of the truck, she wasn't 100 percent and he was worried about her. She checked her knives in her boots, her Glocks on her thighs, strapped her Kukris to her back, slung her bow over her back settling it between the blades and holding her rifle in her hands.

Once again Daryl noticed how sexy she looked with a gun in her hands and weapons all over her body. He took in her tight black spaghetti strap tank top, tight black jeans and her black knee high boots. Her hair was pulled back in a high ponytail and she had managed to wash off most of the walker blood she had on her skin.

"They have patrols. We're better off on foot."

"How far? Night's coming." Rick says gathering supplies.

"It's a mile, maybe two."

They head into the woods coming across a group of walkers, they stand in a tight formation taking out each walker with silence. Suddenly they realize their surrounded, Rick directs them through a break in the trees, that leads to a cabin. They scramble inside shutting the door behind them as quietly as possible. A horrible smell greets their nostrils, Daryl investigates to find a dog, long past dead on the floor of the cabin.

There's a loud bang followed by growls as the walkers converge on the front of the cabin banging on the walls and door. Rick grabs the covers on the bed, a human man jumps up brandishing a shotgun , he's looking at the people in his house. Rick disarms the man but he continues to scream loudly, the sound antagonizing the walkers outside. He bites Rick and runs for the door, but before he can open it, two blades are plunged straight through his body.

The two women nod to one another as they pull their blades from the man's now dead body. The men aren't sure what to say, they eye the women in turn. Daryl peeks out the open slits in the boarded up door window, "Remember the Alamo?"

Michonne opens the door as Daryl and Rick toss the man's dead body out the front door, the walkers fighting to get a piece of the flesh as the group sneaks out the back door and around the front past the walkers.

As darkness falls they find themselves out in front of the town of Woodbury. They look at the guards on the walls and the spotlights watching for walkers. This was not going to be easy, but then again, nothing ever had been.


	25. Made to Suffer

**Disclaimer - I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

**WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS MENTIONS OF RAPE, ABUSE AND TORTURE. IF THIS IS NOT YOUR THING PLEASE DO NOT READ.**

Thank you to all of you who have followed or favored myself and my story. I would love some reviews, let me know if you guys are liking my character and my interpretation of the series.

**So being in a good mood I decided to post 2 chapters today. Enjoy :)**

xoxo Tiearney

* * *

As they sit there outside the gates trying to formulate a plan, Michonne taps Rayne lightly on the shoulder motioning for her to follow. Rick sees the two of them leave and cusses, turning to the men, "All right, we need to downsize."

They set about taking what weapons they can, Daryl eyes the town, "Ain't no way we're gonna check in all them buildings, not with all them guards there."

A twig snaps behind them and they all turn pointing their guns at the two women who have came back, Rayne shakes her head, "God, y'all are jumpy. Come on, she found a way in."

The men follow the two women to a break in the wall where there are no guards, they hop in, ducking through the back door of a building. Daryl runs to look out the front window, outside he sees people walking down the streets. "I thought you said there was a curfew."

"The street is packed during the day. Those are stragglers."

"If anyone comes in here, we're sitting ducks. We gotta move." Rick looks out the window next to the door looking for an opening.

An argument ensues about where the two are being held and Michonne leading them into a trap. Rick says if things go south they cut her loose, Daryl suggests they all split up. Without warning a knock is heard at the door, they hear keys jangling as someone unlocks the front door. The door opens and a guard walks in, he looks around saying he knows someone is in there. Rick grabs the man shoving him against the wall, then forcing him to his knees. He questions him where their friends are, the man swears he doesn't know. They zip tie his hands and gag him before Daryl knock him out.

All at once they hear gunfire from outside, Rick opens the door as the group moves down the street slinking against the buildings. They move inside of the building at the end of the row towards the wall, that's where the gunfire resounded from. They pause next to a wall, glancing through a small dirty window they hear a man talking to two people, they know it's their people. Suddenly the men pick up the two moving towards the door where the group is sitting, thinking quickly they grab the Flashbangs.

Rick tosses one into the path of the men, it explodes blinding them, then covering the room in a thick fog. The group files back into the room grabbing their two people and backing out amongst gunfire. The group runs up the street, they hear men coming their way so they duck inside of a building. Rayne looks around seeing that Michonne is not with them, she knows the woman has went after her prey.

* * *

"Ain't no way out back here." Daryl comes from the rear of the building.

"Rick, how did you find us?" Maggie's panicked voice comes from the floor where she's knelt beside Glenn.

Glenn tells them he's alright despite the fact that he's bleeding and his breath is raspy. They look for Michonne but Rayne tells them she went looking for the man who shot her, Rick tells them she's on her own.

Maggie helps Glenn put on a shirt, the younger man turns to the hunter, "Daryl, this was Merle. It was. He did this."

Daryl stops pacing his head whipping around to meet Glenn's face.

"You saw him?" Rick asks.

"Face to face. He threw a walker at me. He was gonna execute us."

Daryl steps up his voice stuttering, "S-so my brother's this Governor?"

"No, he's somebody else. Your brother's his Lieutenant or something." Maggie says.

"Does he know I'm still with you?"

"He does now. Rick, I'm sorry. We told him where the prison was. We couldn't hold out."

Rick kneels down to Glenn, "Don't. No need to apologize."

Rick looks out the window, they need to move and now. As they help Glenn stand up, Daryl starts panicking, "Hey, if Merle's around, I need to see him."

"Not now. We're in hostile territory." Rick tells him trying to make Daryl understand.

"He's my brother. He ain't gonna try—"

"Look what he did! Look, we gotta— we gotta get out of here now."

"Maybe I can talk to him. Maybe I can work somethin' out."

"No, no, no. You're not thinking straight. Look, no matter what they say, they're hurt. Glenn can barely walk. How are we gonna make it out if we get overrun by walkers and this governor catches up to us? I need you. Are you with me?"

"Yeah." Daryl nods, but Rayne can see the unsure look in his eyes, she pulls him off to the side, "Hey, it'll be okay, we'll find him." She lays a hand on his cheek lightly, impressed when he doesn't flinch, and lightly presses a kiss to his lips. "Is that offer for a good man still standin'?" He nods dumbly as she smiles, he leans down and steals another light kiss before they move to the front doors.

"On three, stay tight." Rick tells them. "One, two, three." Daryl throws two smokers out of the door and when they have enough cover they head out of the front of the building. "Let's go!"

They move out into the street and are spotted, suddenly they get caught in a hail of gunfire, they hold their ground firing back. They move down and across the street into a small alcove in front of a building. Daryl and Rayne tell them to move for the buses parked against the wall behind them, they'll lay down cover fire. Maggie protests but Rayne assures her they'll be right behind them.

Daryl tosses out another smoker as he and Rayne move out laying down a blanket of bullets backed up by Rick. Oscar leads the other two to the buses helping them get up and over the wall, but he's hit in the side by a shotgun blast. Maggie puts him down before she climbs up and over the wall followed by Rick.

"Daryl! Rayne!"

"Go!" The two find themselves pinned down. Rayne fires at the three men behind the bench to their left, suddenly her gun clicks, "Fuck!" She hears another click and realizes Daryl is out too, they look to one another knowing they'll never make it out of here with just bows. Daryl takes her hand, squeezing it as they are surrounded.

* * *

Just as they did with Maggie and Glenn, they separate the two hunters. Rayne listens as the two brother's have a conversation, like it was the old days and they're sitting down having a beer at a bar.

* * *

"So, little brother, how ya been?"

"What the hell is goin' on here Merle? How'd ya get here?"

"Governor and his men found me after I cut off my hand and stole your van. I earned myself a spot by his side."

"Yeah, doin' all his dirty work."

"It's what I do best, you know that."

"Why couldn't you just stay there? We came back for you, me, Rick and Rayne."

"Oh yeah, your pretty little huntress in the other room. Got to admit, she is a prize if I've ever seen one. I didn't know you had it in ya."

Daryl notices the look on Merle's face, he knows what his brother is thinking and it makes him blind with rage. "Leave her alone Merle."

Merle smirks turning back to his sibling, so he did care for her. "Sure, little brother, I'll leave her alone. As long as you tell me all about ya new home and the people in it."

"I ain't tellin' ya shit."

"Suit yourself, let's go see if your girlfriend will be more accommodating."

* * *

Merle left the room amid Daryl's yells, he chuckled to himself, boy always was a sucker for a pretty girl. Well Merle would just have to teach him a lesson right now. He opened the door, excusing the soldier inside, he circled the woman like she was a piece of meat.

Rayne could feel him running his fingers through her ponytail, brushing them over her neck and face. She wasn't about to make a sound, knowing Daryl was in the room beside her, that's exactly what Merle wanted and she would never give him the satisfaction.

"Well, my little brother did make a good choice. You are beautiful. But I sense that you're also deadly too, hence the reason why you're still tied up. Not for my safety a course, I'd have no problem taking you but you make the other men nervous."

"You positive you could take me? Wanna test your theory out?"

Merle smiled at the venom dripping from her voice, "Well, you are a feisty one aren't you?" He wrapped his hand in her hair jerking her head back, "I like 'em feisty." He licked her neck and Rayne closed her eyes wanting to gag, how this man was related to Daryl was beyond her mental comprehension.

"So why don't you tell me about your friends, all of 'em."

"I'm not tellin' you a damn thang."

She gasped slightly as he jerked her hair sharply, something that wasn't lost on Merle. He stood her up pushing her backwards, he slammed her against the metal walls separating the two hunters. "I'm gettin' the feelin' you like it rough don't ya?" He ran his fingers along the hem of her shirt, his fingers found the scar on her right side and he stroked it his eyebrows raising. "Maybe, more rough than I thought." He spun her around slamming her face against the wall as he lifted her bound arms up in the air, her shoulders protesting, threatening to pop out of their sockets. Merle sliced her top up the back letting it hang open as he eyed her back.

* * *

Daryl heard her gasp as she was slammed against the wall for the second time. He heard his brother comment on her phoenix tattoo and knew he was holding her the same way Daryl had out in the woods. Merle commented on her scars saying that was the reason Daryl liked her, they were both damaged. If Daryl hadn't felt low that day in the woods, having Merle treat her the same way he had, he felt lower than dirt right now.

* * *

Rayne bit her lip so hard she drew blood, she wanted nothing more than to pummel this fucker into the ground but she knew that wouldn't help the situation.

"Has my brother tried you out yet?" Rayne said nothing as Merle spun her around. "I'll take your silence as a no. You do know he's still a virgin, right? And I'm judging you as pretty experienced. You gonna teach him everything you know?" Merle laughed, he was determined to get a rise outta this one but so far he was failing. He pinned her body against the wall rubbing against her, he trailed his hand from her shoulder to her hip then to the junction of her thighs, grabbing her tightly through her jeans. "Maybe I should give you a try first? Huh? Maybe you'll find you prefer the older more experienced brother."

"Fuck!" Merle stumbled back as she head butted him, breaking his nose again, he could feel the bones shift as the blood started to flow down his face. He straightened up and seeing her smirking face enraged him, "You stupid bitch!"

* * *

Daryl could only imagine what his brother was doing to her. He heard his brother scream and curse, then another sound filled the room, the sound of Rayne's piercing scream echoed through the building. Daryl struggled against his bindings, her voice was laced with pain and the sound made Daryl's heart skip a beat.

* * *

Rayne looked down at the blade from Merle's arm that was piercing through the flesh of the left side of her stomach. The wound was about an inch in from her side, it missed all her organs which Rayne was thankful for, she felt her warm blood streaming down her side to the waistband of her pants. She looked up into the cold eyes staring her down, she matched her cold gaze with an icy one of her own. Merle smirked as he watched her eyelids drop, she was weakening. She caught his smirk and spit straight into his face, then matched him with a smirk of her own.

Merle roared ripping the blade from her skin, relishing in her screams of pain. He punched her in the mouth dropping the huntress to the floor on her knees. He grabbed her by the ponytail wrapping it around his knife hand, wrenching her head up as he hit her again and again, over and over till her face was bloody and bruised. He watched her squirm and crawl across the floor trying to free her hands to hold her bloody side, he smirked as he kicked her in the ribs knocking her onto her back. He leaned down next to her grabbing her chin in his hand, forcing her to look at him, the defiant fire in her eyes making him laugh. "Boy, you are tough. But it don't matter, he'll never choose you over me sweetheart."

* * *

Daryl heard Rayne scream again, then he heard Merle punching her over and over again, he lost track of how many times. He heard what Merle said about Daryl choosing, and the hardest part for Daryl to digest was that he honestly didn't know who he'd chose. Then everything went silent and a dreadful feeling overtook him. "Rayne?! Rayne, can you hear me?! Rayne?!"

* * *

Rayne laid on the floor feeling weaker than she had in a very long time. She heard the door open and someone grab her hauling her onto her feet and placing a bag over her head. She heard the men speak as they eyed her appreciatively before someone cut her tank the rest of the way off. "Come on sugar. You've got a date in the arena." Rayne struggled to walk as they lead her, she wondered where Daryl was and what they were doing to him. She heard the man she supposedly thought to be the Governor speaking.

"Want to destroy us! And worse… because one of those terrorists… is one of our own. Merle… the man I counted on, the man I trusted. He lead 'em here. And he let 'em in. It was you. You lied, betrayed us all."

Rayne felt herself being pushed forward, she struggled even though it didn't have much effect on her handlers with how weak she was.

"These are two of the terrorists."

Rayne realized that Daryl must be beside her, then light assaults her eyes as the hood is removed along with Daryl's.

"Merle's own brother."

Rayne locks stares with Daryl as he takes in what she now looks like, bruised and bloody from her face to her waist. He takes in her shirtless torso, nothing but the black lace bra covering her from their eyes. He watches her soft eyes grow hard as they move from him to his brother. Rayne's gaze moves back to him as she sees the cut on his right cheek, someone had obviously hit him. Both of their eyes go wide as they see Andrea standing amongst the crowd, hers doing the same as she sets eyes on them.

"So what should we do with them, huh?"

The crowd starts chanting "kill them" as the governor circles them. He steps up to Merle, "You wanted your brother. Now you got him."


	26. The Suicide King

**Disclaimer - I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

**WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS MENTIONS OF RAPE, ABUSE AND TORTURE. IF THIS IS NOT YOUR THING PLEASE DO NOT READ.**

Thank you to all of you who have followed or favored myself and my story. I would love some reviews, let me know if you guys are liking my character and my interpretation of the series.

**So being in a good mood I decided to post 2 chapters today. Enjoy :)**

xoxo Tiearney

* * *

Rayne watches Daryl as he fidgets back and forth on his feet, his breathing is rapid and shallow as his eyes dart between her, Merle and the Governor. 'He's scared.' The thought hits her like a rock, she's never seen him resemble anything close to fear.

Andrea shoves her way to the Governor, "Let them go. Philip. They're my friends." She grabbed and held back by a soldier, the Governor doesn't even look her way, "It's not up to me anymore. The people have spoken." He points to Merle as one of them cut Daryl's bindings. "I asked you where your loyalties lie. You said here. Well, prove it. Prove it to us all. Brother against brother. Winner goes free."

"No!" Rayne yelps as he grabs her hair pulling her back against him. "And gets her." He shoves her to one of the guards next to Andrea, "Fight to the death!"

The two friends eye one another before Andrea tries to reason with him, "Philip, please. Don't do this. Don't do this."

Merle gazes at his brother then tosses up his hand to the crowd, "Y'all know me. I'm gonna do whatever I got to do to prove…" Merle punches an unsuspecting Daryl in the stomach, he grunts falling to the ground, coughing. Rayne struggles against the guard holding her, she's gonna tear Merle apart if she gets loose.

"…that my loyalty…" He kicks Daryl in the stomach rolling him onto his back. "Is to this town!" He kneels over Daryl hammering him with blows.

Rayne and Andrea turn to see walkers being brought in on catch poles. Merle leans down to hit Daryl again and is rocked by a right cross from Daryl knocking him back enough for Daryl to get back up. Daryl gets up charging his brother but Merle knocks him onto his back kneeling over him. The walkers are being brought closer now, closing in a circle around the two.

Daryl has his hands around Merle's throat choking him, "You really think this asshole's gonna let you go?"

"Just follow my lead, little brother. We're getting out of this, right now." Merle picks Daryl up and together they stand back to back against the walkers.

"Philip, no. Stop this! Stop this!" Andrea can't bare to watch this any longer.

The two brothers beat the walkers back, but the soldiers keep moving them forwards. Daryl punches the walkers, then shoving them into the crowd causing the people to scream and run.

* * *

Suddenly shots ring out, the walkers falling to the ground, their heads pierced through with bullets and a few of the humans too. A smoker is tossed in the center of the circle, Rayne is set free by the man holding her when Daryl grabs the man from behind choking him out, he pulls her into the center of the smoke. The building erupts in gunfire, people are running, and screaming. Daryl grabs Rayne's arm, "Merle, come on!" Daryl grabs his crossbow back from one of the guards as he heads for the door.

Rick meets up with them at the door ushering them out of the arena into the center of town. Maggie meets up with them as they reach the buses guarding the wall.

"Will somebody please cut me loose!" Rayne sighs in frustration as Maggie pulls out her knife cutting her bindings. "Thanks Mags. Nice shootin'." The brunette smiles, "Nice rifle." She hands Rayne back all her weapons they had managed to find while scouring the building for her and Daryl.

"They're all at the arena. This way!" Merle heads in between the buses.

"You're not going anywhere with us."

"You really want to do this now?" Metallic sounds are heard as Merle opens a panel of the metal fence.

"Come on, man." Daryl yells back to his brother, looking back as Merle makes a hole in the fence. "Rick, come on. We've got to go."

Merle takes a walker coming for them, Daryl and Rayne take out two more with arrows, while Maggie and Rick shoot more. Merle yells for them to follow him, as he heads up the street.

* * *

It's daylight by the time they reach the edge of the woods, Rayne can see Glenn and Michonne sitting with the cars on the side of the road.

"Oh, thank God." Glenn runs up to them, "Jesus, Rayne. Are you alright?" She just nods not speaking at the moment due to the pain coursing through her body as she leans against a tree to Daryl's right.

Rick stand in front of Glenn, "Now we got a problem here. I need you to back up."

Glenn pulls out his gun as Michonne draws her sword as they see Merle, "What the hell is he doing here?!"

"Put it down! Put it down!" Daryl yells to the two of them.

"He tried to kill me!" Michonne says never wavering her sword, the two are backed up by Maggie with her gun.

"He helped us get out of there." Daryl defends his brother.

"Yeah, right after he beat the shit out of you." Rick snaps holding his gun at Michonne.

"Hey, we both took our licks, man."

"Jackass." Daryl snorts replying to his brother.

Merle steps towards Daryl, "Hey, shut up."

"Enough!" Rick barks with authority as the group stands arguing.

"Hey, get that thing out of my face." Daryl swats Glenn's gun out of his face but Glenn doesn't waver.

Behind him Merle laughs, "Man, look like you've gone native, brother."

Daryl whirls around, "No more than you hangin' out with that psycho back there."

"Oh, yeah, man. He is a charmer, I got to tell you that. Been putting the wood to your girlfriend Andrea. Big time, baby." Merle moans wiggling his tongue, sending shivers through Rayne as he looks at Michonne.

"Andrea's in Woodbury?" Glenn asks.

"Right next to the Governor." Daryl replies.

Michonne moves towards Merle, but Rick stops her from advancing, "I told you to drop that! You know Andrea? Hey, do you know Andrea."

"Yep, she does. Her and Blondie spent all winter cuddling up in the forest. Mm-mmm-mmm. Yeah. My Nubian queen here had two pet walkers. No arms, cut off the jaws, kept them in chains. Kind of ironic now that I think about it."

"Shut up, bro!"

"Hey, man, we snagged them out of the woods. Andrea was close to dying."

"Is that why she's with him?" Maggie questions.

"Yeah. Snug as two little bugs. So, whatcha gonna do now, Sheriff? Surrounded by a bunch of liars, thugs, and cowards."

"Shut up!"

"Oh, man, look at this. Pathetic. All these guns and no bullets in them."

"Merle, shut up!"

"Shut up yourself! Bunch of pussies you roll—"

Merle is shut up by Rayne as she knocks him out with the butt of her rifle. "Asshole." Everyone gives her a look as she falls to the ground, leaning back against the tree. She's become very pale, Maggie sits down next to her eyeing the wound on her stomach. Glenn comes back from the car with a rag, Maggie tears it into strips, tying it together and binding Rayne's wounds the best she can. "How the hell did this happen, Ray?"

"That fucker on the ground. Everythin' ya see, is from him." Her voice is soft and her breath catches between words.

* * *

After a few moments they move to the middle of the road minus Michonne and Merle for a small meeting.

"It's not gonna work." Rick says.

"It's gotta."

"It'll stir things up."

"Look, the Governor is probably on the way to the prison right now. Merle knows how he thinks and we could use the muscle."

"I'm not having him at the prison." Maggie says, Glenn backing her up, "He had a gun to our heads. Do you really want him sleeping in the same cell block as Carol or Beth? Look what he did to Rayne, Daryl."

"He ain't a rapist." Daryl says earning a scoff from Rayne which angers him, "You got somethin' to say."

"Yeah, I do Dixon. I hate to break it to you, but I didn't end up shirtless for my health. Let me give you a play by play. Your dear brother pinned me to a wall, ground himself against me, cut my shirt up the back, then turned me around, ground himself against me again, rubbed his hand down the length of my body before grabbin' me 'tween the legs. He was goin' to rape me, Daryl. The only thang that stopped him was me breakin' his nose. Oh, and you know what he did after that, he stabbed a knife through my stomach. Oh, and the fun didn't end there, no, then he punched me in the face repeatedly, I can't even tell you how many times, but I think my face serves a good example, you take a guess, and I'm sure it won't even be close. Oh, and he kicked me in the ribcage a few times too."

The sarcasm and anger were flowing through her voice strongly, it was as if the more she talked about it, the stronger she became. By the end she was breathing heavily, her chest heaving as she stared a hole through Daryl. She saw him roll his eyes, of course he wouldn't believe her over his own flesh and blood. "Did I mention my hands were tied the entire time? I couldn't have fought back if I wanted to."

Daryl's eyes dropped from hers, he couldn't hold her gaze after hearing everything his brother did to her. He didn't believe her, she had to be lying, he wouldn't do that to a woman.

"There's no way that Merle's gonna live there without putting everyone at each other's throats." Rick tells them.

"So you're gonna cut Merle loose and bring the last samurai home with us? She's too unpredictable. But Merle, Merle's blood."

"No, Merle's your blood. My blood, my family is standing right here and waiting for us back at the prison." Glenn tells him.

Rick sighs, "And you're part of that family. But he's not. He's not."

"Man, y'all don't know. Fine. We'll fend for ourselves."

"That's not what I was saying." Glenn tells him.

"No him, no me." Daryl's words hit Rayne like a rock, she had been expecting them but it hurt to actually hear them out loud.

Maggie sees the look on Rayne's face, "Daryl, you don't have to that."

"It was always Merle and I before this."

"You serious?" Glenn glances between Daryl and Rayne, he can't believe he's gonna let Rayne go for his brother. "You're just gonna leave like that?"

"You'd do the same thing."

Glenn shakes his head, "What do you want us to tell Carol?"

"She'll understand." He looks around at the group, "Say goodbye to your pops for me."

They follow him not believing he's doing this, they try to talk him out of it but he's not listening. Rick looks back at the crestfallen look on Rayne's face, he runs up to the hunter. "There's got to be another way."

"Don't ask me to leave him. I already did that once."

"We started something last night. You realize that, huh?"

Daryl opens up the back of the car grabbing his bag, "No him, no me. That's all I can say. Take care of yourself. Take care of Lil Ass-Kicker. Carl. He's one tough kid."

He steps past Rick to the driver's side of Rayne's truck, she's sitting in the seat, her eyes glance down at him as he stands before her.

"Don't." She tells him weakly, as he starts to speak. "You don't have to say anythin'. He's family, I get it. But he's no good for you, you know that just as well as I do. Him being left on the roof wasn't your fault, you don't owe him a thang." She hands him her bandana. "Just a reminder."

She takes a slow shaky breath, "You know what hurts the most, he was right."

"About what?" He took the bandana folding it and placing it in his pocket.

"He said you'd never pick me over him." He could see the tears gathering in her eyes, but she wouldn't let them fall. She wouldn't cry, not for him. "You really didn't mean what you said that night on the tower."

"I meant everythin'."

"No ya didn't. You said you'd never hurt me."

Daryl didn't know what to say, his heart was in his throat, he couldn't speak even if he wanted to.

"Goodbye Daryl."

The finality in her emotionless voice killed him, she had put her walls back up, she was an empty shell like she was when they first met and this time it was all his fault. He felt as low as the man who had made her that way to begin with. He sighed as he walked off into the woods towards his brother, he knew he was doing what was right, but why did it make him feel like his heart was ripped from his chest.

Merle gladly wrapped his arm around his brother as they headed off into the woods together.

* * *

Maggie climbed into the truck with Rayne, someone needed to be with her right now. They drove back to the prison in silence, Rayne was trying to shut herself off again, but as Maggie took her hand holding it she felt her resolve slip and the tears flowed down her face. No words needed to be spoken, the girls simply knew they needed one another right now.

* * *

As they arrived at the prison Rick told Carol that Daryl was gone, as expected she took it about as well as the rest of them. After finding out they had guests, Rick makes them leave, he's not ready to take in any other people, especially ones they don't know?

* * *

Rayne retreats to the farthest tower in the dog run, Maggie finds her there trying to sew up her side but she's shaking too much. The brunette sits down beside her gently taking the needle and thread from her shaking hands. She sets out sewing up the entrance wound first, she pierces the needle through the first piece of skin noticing Rayne doesn't make a sound or move.

"Am I hurting you?"

"No. I don't feel anythin'. I can't feel anythin' anymore."

Maggie frowns at the break in her friends voice, "I'm sorry Ray."

"Don't be. I knew I shouldn't have let him get close to me. History always repeats."


	27. Home

**Disclaimer - I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

Thank you to **NicoleR85** & **Daydreamer003** for their reviews.

Thank you to all of you who have followed or favored myself and my story. I would love some reviews, let me know if you guys are liking my character and my interpretation of the series.

xoxo Tiearney

* * *

After Maggie had finished up the stitches and dressing her wounds, she helped Rayne into a plain black V-neck t-shirt, then helps her wash most of the blood off of her face. Afterwards Maggie kisses her cheek and heads back into the prison. Rayne looks at her reflection in a piece of broken glass, her right eye is black and her cheekbone is bruised and sporting a nice inch wide gash in the middle of the bruise. Her left cheekbone is bruised, her lips are split in three places and puffy, and her right jawbone is bruised from the corner of her mouth up to her ear.

She lifted her shirt up revealing the black and blue bruises covering her torso from Merle's steel-toed boots. At first she had thought he had broken a few of her ribs, but now she was glad he hadn't, she was in enough pain without adding broken bones to the list. Her eyes fell on the white bandages that stood out brightly against her dark damaged skin on her stomach and back. She knew beneath them were the angry red wounds with black thread holding them closed.

She lowered her shirt stretching her sore muscles, every inch of her body hurt, but none more so than her heart. What was she thinking letting Daryl in close to her, even after she had found out about his brother? She wasn't thinking rationally that was the problem. She was thinking with her heart and not with her head. Serves her right, and the constant ache in her heart will serve as her reminder of why she kept people at bay. Why you don't give people the power to hurt you, because ultimately they will.

* * *

Rayne kept her distance from the others, she wasn't ready to see their pitying looks towards her, or hear Carol's cries at Daryl's absence. So she stayed in the tower sitting watch, and it was well into the next morning before she saw anything new. The first thing she happened to see that day was Rick, he seemed to be touching someone's face as he stood on the small bridge below her tower. As Rayne observed him she realized that Rick was suffering from a break down, he thought he was seeing Lori's ghost and him being off his game was dangerous for them all. So it was then that Rayne took it upon herself to be better, more alert for the sake of the group.

* * *

Meanwhile in the forest, unlike Rayne who was trying to forget, Daryl couldn't help but remember. His mind had been on the group since he had left, wondering how they were fairing without him. But mostly he couldn't get the image of Rayne's face out of his mind as she said goodbye to him, her tone was full of finality.

He glanced at his brother, Rayne's words echoing in his head, 'he was goin' to rape me, Daryl.' He shook his head, no, that couldn't be true, Merle wouldn't do something like that. And yet, Daryl knew what he had heard, he listened as Merle beat Rayne remorselessly and cruelly after which he stabbed her through with his knife. But Daryl couldn't hear what went on besides that other than the words the two said and no words indicated that his brother had tried to sexually assault Rayne.

Merle was his brother, family, flesh and blood. Rayne wasn't. So who was he to not defend his brother, to stick up for him, to take his brother's side. But despite his conviction that his brother was innocent, the overwhelming evidence staring him in the face couldn't be ignored. That and the fact that Rayne had looked directly in his eyes as she spoke and didn't once falter, had him thinking maybe he didn't know his brother that well anymore.

* * *

Daryl kept watch while Merle took a piss nearby behind him. "There ain't nothin' out here but mosquitos and ants."

"Patience, little brother. Sooner or later, a squirrel is bound to scurry across your path."

"Even so, that ain't much food."

"More than nothing."

"I'd have better luck going through one of them houses we passed back on the turn-off."

Merle chuckles as he finishes his piss, "Is that what your new friends taught you? Hmm?" He turned around as he zipped up his pants, "How to loot for booty?"

Daryl didn't look to Merle avoiding the lecture he'd get, "We've been out here for hours. Why don't we find a stream, try our luck with some fish?"

"I think you're just trying to lead me back to the road, man. Get me over to that prison."

"They got shelter." Daryl states leaning back against a tree crossing his ankles. "Food. Pot to piss in. Might not be a bad idea."

Merle glances up at him from his position kneeled down on the ground. "For you, maybe. Ain't gonna be no damn party for me."

"Everyone will get used to each other." Daryl straightened up raising his bow staring through the site.

Merle stands up dusting himself off, "They're all dead. Makes no difference."

Daryl lowers the bow at the sure tone in Merle's voice. "How can you be so sure?"

"Right about now he's probably hosting a housewarming party where he's gonna bury what's left of your pals." Merle spits as he passes by Daryl. "Let's hook some fish."

Daryl watches Merle walk away as he worries the inside of his cheek, he sighs spitting before he follows Merle towards the river.

* * *

Rayne watches Glenn storm out into the courtyard, he spots her as she waves him over. He crosses the field stopping at the bottom of the tower as she climbs down to meet him. She notices the fury burning in his eyes as his stare matches hers.

"How long have you been out here?" He takes in the dark circles under her eyes that have nothing to do with the bruises on her face. She looks as though she hasn't slept in a week and he notices the paleness of her face.

"Since we got back." She shrugs it off like it's no big deal but Glenn can see straight through her.

"Rayne, you need to sleep and you sure as hell need to eat something."

Her eyes move over the prison and then to the woods outside the fences. "I can't. Rick is in no condition to lead, at least not right now. So someone has to take on that responsibility, and I knew that person would be you. You are a leader Glenn, and they'll all be lookin' to you until Rick comes out of this delusion he's caught up in. I figured I'd take the responsibility of watch and everythin' outside these gates and you can focus on what's goin' on inside. We both know that it's only a matter of time before the Governor comes to take his revenge and we need to be prepared for that. We cannot run, this is our home now and we must defend it at all costs."

Glenn smiled as she finished her speech, there was a reason the two of them got on so well, they thought very much alike. "Okay. Well as it stands right now, Carl and I are going down it the tombs to try and locate the breach where Tyreese and his group got in. If any company shows up before I come back out here, I want you to fire one shot in the air, we'll hear it and come out ready for a fight."

Rayne nodded as Glenn turned back heading across the field as Rayne climbed back up into her tower. Glenn was right, she did need to sleep and eat but at this moment the only thing on her mind was protecting this prison and her family, her health didn't matter.

* * *

The two brothers make their way through the woods, pretty soon they can both smell water up ahead of them. Merle takes a whiff of the air, "Smells to me like the Sawhatchee Creek."

"We didn't go west enough. There's a river down there, it's got to be the Yellow Jacket."

"You have a stroke, boy? We ain't never even come close to Yellow Jacket."

"We didn't go west. Just a little bit south. That's what I think."

Merle scoffs eyeing his brother, "Know what I think? I may have lost my hand, but you lost your sense of direction."

"Yeah, we'll see."

"What do you want to bet?"

"I don't want to bet nothin'. It's just a body a water. Why's everythin' got to be a competition with you?"

"Whoa, whoa. Take it easy, little brother. Just trying to have a little fun here. No need to get your panties all in a bundle."

Daryl stops as something grabs his attention, a sound floating on the wind. "You hear that?"

"Yeah, wild animals getting wild."

"No, it's a baby."

"Oh, come on. Why don't you just piss in my ear and tell me it's raining, too? That there's the sound of a couple a coons making love, sweet love. Know what I mean?" Merle laughs as he rolls his hips towards Daryl.

The younger brother rolls his eyes as he quickly moves towards the sound, finding himself down at the river, he looks up onto the stone bridge as two men yelling in Spanish catch his attention. There are two men standing on a flat bed truck near the edge of the bridge, their being over run by a group of walkers. Merle yells at the two to jump, laughing as he sees Daryl take off running towards the bridge. "Hey, man, I ain't wasting my bullets on a couple of strangers that ain't never cooked me a meal or felicitated my piece. That's my policy. You'd be wise to adopt it, brother."

Daryl ignores Merle's ranting as he quickly and quietly makes his way up the bank towards the bridge. The two men are shooting the walkers that are lumbering towards the truck, but they only have one six-shooter and they're almost out of bullets. The rest of the walkers are clawing at a red car that is housing a woman and her crying baby.

One of them men drops his gun onto the ground, he leans down for it but straightens up quickly as another walker comes at him, it grabs his leg it's teeth gnashing desperately for the flesh of is leg. Just as his friend helps pull him free, an arrow lodges itself in the walkers head. The two men look up at the man wielding a crossbow as he drops his backpack and fires another bolt into a female walkers head.

Daryl steps up quickly yanking the arrow from the corpse and stabbing it into another walkers head behind him. He looks up at the two men on the truck, "Come on, man. I'm tryin' to help you out. Cover me!"

Daryl reloads his bow as one of them jumps down from the truck and grabs the gun shooting a walker in the head as it comes up behind the hunter. Daryl fires taking out one of the walkers on the hood of the car, then he reloads and takes out another on the windshield. He runs forward smashing in the head of the walker by the drivers window with the stock of his crossbow. He drops the bow and runs to the back of the car grabbing the walker inside by the back of its shirt and dragging it out onto the ground away from the mother and child. He slams the truck lid closed on the walkers head, blood and brains flowing down the bumper and pooling onto the ground.

Daryl bends down picking up his crossbow, he turns finding a walker behind him. He hears Merle's laugh as he cocks his gun, "Daryl! I got ya!" Daryl ducks behind the car assuring his brother doesn't hit him by mistake. "Go!" Daryl moves back at his brothers shout, grabbing the bolt out of the walkers head on his way. The man with the gun is yelling at Daryl in Spanish. "Speak English," Daryl tells him as he reloads his bow. He fires taking out another walker coming towards him, then steps up on the hood of the car yanking a bolt out of the walkers head he had shot earlier. He reloads noticing briefly that his brother is simply sitting on his ass on the bridge railing watching him do all the work. He lifts his bow nailing the bolt through the walkers head within inches of himself. He drops the bow and pulling out his knife runs over to assist the Mexican man. He stabs the knife into the walkers head then kicks it sending it over the side of the bridge and down into the water below.

Daryl leans on the side of the bridge looking down, the man next to him. They look at one another, a silent thank you between the two. Both of them turn as Merle opens the back door of the car, the man next to Daryl approaches him and Merle pulls out his gun. "Slow down, beaner. That ain't no way to say thank you."

Daryl slowly walks up on the other side of the car hearing the man speaking in Spanish neither him nor his brother understand. "Let 'em go." He stares at his brother cautiously, he knew this side of Merle, hell they used to do it together, but now it didn't feel right to Daryl.

"Relax." Merle glances at his brother, lowering his gun. "The least they can do is give us an enchilada or something, huh?" Merle leans into the car, "Easy does it, Senorita." The woman is sobbing as she watches the man rifle through her things. "Everything's gonna be fine."

The two Mexican men exchange words as Daryl matches stares with the man he was helping, Daryl nods before turning to his brother. He taps Merle on the back with the tip of his crossbow, "Get out of the car."

"I know you're not talking to me, brother."

Daryl turns to the man, "Get in your car and get the hell out of here. Go! Get in your car!"

The two men converse in Spanish a moment before they climb into the car and start it. Daryl keeps his crossbow trained on Merle as he stands up and shuts the door to the car. After the car backs up out of range Daryl raises the bow, holding it up on his bicep, he glares at Merle before he walks away picking up his backpack and heading across the bridge back the way they came. The thunder rumbles as Daryl snatches a bolt out of a walkers head and continues walking, he passes a sign on the bridge that reads 'Yellow Jacket Creek' that alone would have made him smile if he had been in a joking mood.

* * *

Merle catches up to Daryl back in the forest, his anger brimming just along the surface. "The shit you doing, pointing that thing at me?"

"They were scared, man."

"They were rude is what they were. Rude and they owed us a token of gratitude."

Daryl sighed, "They didn't owe us nothin'."

"You helping people out of the goodness of your heart? Even though you might die doing it? Is that something your Sheriff Rick taught you?"

Daryl stopped in his tracks whipping around to face his brother, "There was a baby!"

"Oh, otherwise you would have just left them to the biters, then?"

Daryl gets what Merle is trying to say, he scoffs not believing Merle is still holding shit over his head. "Man, I went back for ya. You weren't there. I didn't cut off your hand, neither. You did that. Way before they locked you up on that roof. You asked for it."

Merle looks back and forth, chuckling, "You know—you know what's funny to me? You and Sheriff Rick are like this now." Merle holds up his hand crossing two of his fingers tightly. "Right? I bet you a penny and fiddle of gold that you never told him that we were planning on robbing that camp blind."

"It didn't happen," Daryl stated knowing Merle was trying to make him feel bad for something they never did.

"Yeah, it didn't cause I wasn't there to help you."

Daryl stepped up into his brother's face, "What, like when we were kids, huh? Who left who then?"

"What? Huh? Is that why I lost my hand?"

"You lost your hand cause you're a simpleminded piece of shit." Daryl turned walking away from his brother but Merle was quick to chase after him, grabbing the back of Daryl's shirt he ripped it down the back revealing the scars littering Daryl's entire back. The younger brother grasped the tattered pieces of his shirt before dropping them and swinging his pack onto his back to cover up the shame.

"I—I didn't know he was—" Merle stammered not knowing what to say as he took in what had been done to Daryl.

"Yeah, he did." Daryl's voice wavered as he picked up his crossbow. "He did the same to you. That's why you left first."

"I had to, man. I would have killed him otherwise."

Merle watched Daryl walk away from him into the woods, "Where you going?"

"Back where I belong." 'Back to her.' Rayne's face flashed in his mind and Daryl now knew he was wrong for leaving, his family were the people back at that prison, and he was going back to them.

"I can't go with you. I tried to kill that black bitch. Damn near killed the Chinese kid."

"He's Korean." Daryl was proud of himself for remembering that tidbit about Glenn, maybe the kid was growing on Daryl. Suddenly a thought came to Daryl, one that had been nagging him since he parted ways with his huntress. "And Rayne?"

"What about her?" Merle said warily, he didn't want to answer the question he knew his brother was about to ask, Daryl would surely leave him when he answered.

"Were you gonna rape her?" Daryl choked on the words, they felt so foreign in his mouth. Merle didn't answer so Daryl pushed him, "Answer me! If she hadn't broken your nose, would you have raped her?"

Merle's silence was a kick to the gut for Daryl, one that nearly dropped him to his knees. He felt the bile rising up his throat as he pictured what his brother would have done to the woman he was surely falling for. He had called her a liar, when she had never lied to him. He didn't deserve her and he knew that now, but if she could forgive him, then he would spend the rest of his life making things right between them until he earned her back.

Merle's voice turned him back, "Doesn't matter, man. I just can't go with you."

Daryl raises his hand pointing the bolt in his hand towards his brother, "You know, I may be the one walking away… but you're the one that's leaving—again." Daryl took off again through the woods leaving his brother behind. Merle stood with his hands on his hips, the emotions of sadness and loss filling his face. He turned back to the way Daryl left and tossed his hands up following his lead. "Damn."

* * *

Back at the prison things were quiet, too quiet for Rayne's sake. She sat in the tower intently watching her surroundings, waiting for the cannons to signal the coming war. She wasn't disappointed as without warning a shot rang out. Rayne didn't see where it had originated from but she had a feeling the Governor or one of his men was behind the barrel. Her eyes moved down to Rick standing below her, he glanced up at her when gunshots hit the ground at his feet. "Rick!"

Rayne watched the cop run across the small bridge and drive into the bushes near the fence. She turned as she heard another yell below her inside the fence, looking down she found Hershel on the ground by the graves shielding himself from the gunfire. From everywhere along the perimeter of the fence gunfire resounded through the woods. It seemed like forever before the gunfire stopped, but just as quickly it started up once again.

The gunfire stops again as the group hears a distant engine roaring, the sound getting closer to the prison. A red and white van comes speeding down the road busting through the gates and into the middle of the field. Everyone sits in suspense wondering what the hell is going on when the back gate to the van drops down and a group of walkers is released into the field. The driver of the van gets out running back out of the gates firing at Michonne who is using the bus for cover. The gunfire starts again as everyone starts firing at whoever they can.

"Hershel. Get the hell out of there!"

Rick tries to cover the elder man as the walkers converge on him, he gets a reprieve when Rayne fires down from the tower taking out the walkers coming Hershel's way. Just then growling is heard behind Rick, he turns to find walkers converging on him, the gunfire attracting them like moths to a flame. He raises his gun only for it to give a resounding click signaling that he's empty.

Rayne quickly covers Hershel from her spot in the tower, she glances up and from across the field she sees Michonne with her Katana drawn slicing her way through the horde towards the elder man. Glenn roars up in the truck, jumping out he and Michonne help Hershel into the truck and the three of them take off back into the courtyard.

When she's sure they're safe inside, Rayne searches for Rick, she finds him pinned up against the fence by walkers. Just as she raises her rifle to take a shot, an arrow pierces the head of the walker in front of Rick narrowly stopping before Rick's forehead. She looks to the right to find none other than Daryl and Merle running up to protect Rick. She covers them as the three take out the walkers around them, and once they're dead, they stand and survey the remaining walkers inside and coming into their once secured compound.


	28. I Ain't No Judas

**Disclaimer - I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

Thank you to **NicoleR85,** **Daydreamer003, Shadowprincesskitten & lilnightmare17 **for their reviews.

Thank you to all of you who have followed or favored myself and my story. I would love some reviews, let me know if you guys are liking my character and my interpretation of the series.

Sorry for the short chapters, I promise the last ones will be nice and long.

xoxo Tiearney

* * *

They all make their way inside to the cell block, there is a huge discussion to be had now. Daryl stands up on the second level with Beth and Carol, watching over Lil Ass Kicker. His eyes move down below him where Rayne leans against the wall next to the staircase, she has yet to even look his way since he showed back up. He was greeted warmly by everyone else which made him realize he had made the right decision to come back, he truly belonged here. But he couldn't stop the ache in his chest as the one person he came back for, wanted nothing to do with him, and not that he could blame her. Boy, he had a lot of work to do.

* * *

Everyone offers their input on the situation, mostly the consensus is to leave, minus Rick, Daryl, Rayne and Glenn. Merle adds his two cents from behind the bars of the cell door as he's locked in the common area, of how they should've left last night when they had the chance.

"We ain't scared of that prick." Daryl eyes his brother, a silent look to keep his mouth shut.

"Y'all should be." Merle states, he knows things the others don't about the Governor. "That truck through the fence thing, that's just him ringing the doorbell. We might have some thick walls to hide behind, but he's got the guns and the numbers. And if he takes the high ground around this place, shoot, he could just starve us out if he wanted to."

"Let's put him in the other cell block," Maggie says eyeing Merle.

"No. He's got a point." Daryl defends his brother, which this time, Merle wasn't wrong.

* * *

Everything spiraled out from there, Maggie yelled at Merle about things being his fault, Beth shouted at her sister that it didn't matter whose fault it was, they needed to do something. Rick stated to them all that leaving was not an option before he headed towards the cell door. Hershel stood up shouting at Rick, his voice was full of rage and finality, a tone they had never heard him use before.

He proceeded to tell Rick that he was slipping, they had all seen it and they knew why. Lori's death had hit them all hard. He had put his families lives in Rick's hand and now he needed to own up to his statement of this not being a democracy and do something. The group splits up, Maggie outside on watch with Rayne, while Glenn, Rick, Daryl and Hershel talk about what to do now. They can't clear out the walkers without burning through their ammo, so they can't move the bus over to block the open gates. Glenn tells them the ugly truth, they're trapped in there, with barely any food or ammo.

Glenn starts in about having a snake in the nest which sets Daryl off, the two men squaring off. It ends with Daryl giving his final words on Merle staying before he heads back up to his cell. Glenn tells Rick it's not fair to ask them to live with Merle after he tried to kill them, it would be like asking Rick to live with Shane after he tried to shoot him. Hershel tries to reason with him that Merle is an asset with his military experience, and Glenn tells them that they could kill two birds with one stone by turning him over to the Governor.

* * *

Daryl is sitting in his cell on the bottom bunk twirling an arrow in his hands. He looks up as Carol steps into the doorway leaning back against the doorframe. "Haven't had a chance to say I'm glad you came back."

"To what? All this?" Daryl eyes his small cell.

Carol sits down on the small stool by the bed, "This is our home."

Daryl bites the inside of his cheek, "This is a tomb."

"That's what Rayne said T-Dog called it. She thought he was right, till you found her."

The mention of Rayne makes Daryl's heart clench, she had still yet to speak to him, let alone look in his direction.

Carol sighs glancing down at the ground before raising her eyes to meet Daryl's, "He's your brother, but he's not good for you. Don't let him bring you down."

Again Rayne flashed into his mind, she had said almost the same thing to him before he left her in the forest. It killed him how everything he thought about reverted right back to her.

"After all, look how far you've come."

They both look around the small cell before cracking up into laughter. Carol stands up to leave but pauses in the doorway, "You should talk to her."

Daryl's head snaps up to meet hers, Carol gives him a knowing smile. "She hasn't been the same since they came back without you and I doubt it has anything to do with what happened to her at the hands of your brother."

The hunter scoffs, she obviously didn't know the truth. "Actually, it does. I don't blame her if she never speaks to me again and it doesn't seem like she will. She hates me."

"She doesn't hate you. She loves you." Daryl gave her a hard look, no woman ever fell in love with Daryl Dixon. He couldn't imagine how Carol knew, unless Rayne had told her, but no, she wouldn't have said that. He saw Carol's small smile, "She didn't say anything, actually she hasn't said much of anything since being back. But I can see it in her eyes. The look in her eyes when she came back without you, that was the look of a broken woman. A woman who had just lost the love of her life. We can never take back the things we've said or done, but we can atone for them and start over. Talk to her Daryl. This life is short and unpredictable, take a chance before there isn't one to take."

Carol walked away leaving Daryl alone with his thoughts, something he didn't exactly like. Daryl wasn't used to having thoughts or emotions, and now he was having both. He growled shaking his head, he had no idea how to deal with this situation, he had never been in this position before. But he knew Carol was right, he was running out of chances to make things right. He needed to tell Rayne how he felt and he needed to do it now.

* * *

Rayne perked up in her tower as she saw Andrea coming out of the woods, a walker on a catch pole in front of her. She signaled to Mags, who relayed to Carl, then the boy ran inside alerting the others. Within moments Rick, Daryl, Merle and Michonne entered the courtyard with guns drawn, Carol and Glenn covered them from the walkway above. Rick opened the gate letting Andrea in, after frisking her, he dropped her to her knees taking all her weapons and her bag before glancing down at her. "Welcome back."

The group followed the two inside to the cell block minus Rayne who wasn't leaving the yard unattended, not to mention she wasn't in much of a social mood. She stayed out there long after Andrea left, long after the night sky rose and into the next sunrise.


	29. Clear

**Disclaimer - I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

Thank you to **NicoleR85,** **Daydreamer003, Shadowprincesskitten & lilnightmare17 **for their reviews.

Thank you to all of you who have followed or favored myself and my story. I would love some reviews, let me know if you guys are liking my character and my interpretation of the series.

Sorry for the short chapters, I promise the last ones will be nice and long.

xoxo Tiearney

* * *

The next morning Rick, Carl and Michonne took off in the car, headed back to the cops hometown in search of the weapons he had left behind.

By the time they returned that night, Michonne had proved herself to be one of them.

* * *

Daryl had been fighting with himself all day trying to decide how to mend things with Rayne. Not that she had given him the time of day since his return. She was cordial and civil, but Daryl would have much preferred her to hit him or yell at him, maybe toss some nasty words his way.

She spent the majority of her time out in the tower on the far side of the yard. Daryl had thought about going out there to speak to her alone, but he wasn't one hundred percent sure that Rayne wouldn't use him for target practice.

* * *

The huntress sat in her tower watching Daryl pace back and forth in the courtyard. She knew he wanted to talk to her, and perhaps she should let him explain, or apologize, if that's what he wanted to do. But she couldn't get his words out of her head. He had called her a liar, which is something Rayne never did. She didn't blame him for taking his brother's side, hell if it was her brother she would've chosen him over everyone too.

Rayne sighed leaning her head back against the wall, in her hand she clutched her brother's Navy cross. "Oh, Nico. I hope you're okay."


	30. Arrow On the Doorpost

**Disclaimer - I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

Thank you to **NicoleR85,** **Daydreamer003, Shadowprincesskitten & lilnightmare17 **for their reviews.

Thank you to all of you who have followed or favored myself and my story. I would love some reviews, let me know if you guys are liking my character and my interpretation of the series.

**Sorry for my absence over the holiday weekend, I was at the lake enjoying a few beers and the sun. In honor of that, I'm posting two chapters for your enjoyment.**

xoxo Tiearney

* * *

Several days later Daryl lead the way into town, surprisingly with Rayne on the back of his bike. She still had yet to give him anything but a cold shoulder, but just to have her sitting behind him, feeling her body heat through his jacket, that was enough for him right now.

* * *

They pulled up next to a couple of silo's, Rayne and Daryl hopped off the bikes, both shouldering their bows. Rick stepped out of the car after glancing at Hershel who sat in the driver's seat.

Daryl took point as they snuck in between the silo's and building's on the way over to the place this meeting is supposed to take place. Rayne brought up the rear, smiling to herself as she watched Daryl up ahead with his new black camo crossbow. Michonne had found it when she went back to the town with Rick and the look on Daryl's face when they presented it to him was like a kid on Christmas morning.

As they approach the building Rick takes the inside while the two hunters check out the perimeter. Daryl hears talking coming from inside, he glances through a broken window, Rick stands before a table with the Governor on the other side. The two of them walk out to the front of the building where Hershel pulls the car up to meet them.

Daryl eyes the perimeter, "He's already in there. Just sat down with Rick."

"I don't see any cars."

"It don't feel right." Rayne nods agreeing with the hunter, she keeps her bow raised, alert, waiting for anything. "Keep it running."

They hear a truck approaching through the fence across from them, Daryl taps on the hood of the car, "Heads up." Hershel gets out of the car as the two hunter train their bows on the truck. It pulls to a stop in front of them, three people getting out of the vehicle, one being Andrea.

"What the hell? Why's your boy already in there?"

"He's here?" Andrea's shocked tone tells them that she wasn't informed of the Governor's comings and goings.

"Yep." Daryl says.

Andrea turns to the man who drove, he gives her a sarcastic smile like he knew before she did. She sighs before opening the door and barging inside.

Rayne hops up on the hood of the car her bow ready in her hands, Hershel stands to her left, and Daryl is pacing before her like a caged animal.

"Maybe I should go inside?"

The nerd in the glasses pipes up addressing Hershel, like he was someone important. "The Governor thought it best if he and Rick spoke privately."

Daryl looked sideways at the man, "Who the hell are you?"

"Milton Mamet."

"Great. He brought his butler."

Rayne dropped her head, snickering, her face hidden behind her curtain of hair. Leave it to Daryl to pop off with exactly what everyone was already thinking. The Mexican man chuckles as the nerd continues writing, "I'm his advisor."

Daryl presses, "What kind of advice?"

"Planning. Biters. Uh, you know, I'm sorry. I don't feel like I need to explain myself to the henchmen."

"You better watch your mouth, sunshine."

"D." Rayne's cautionary tone pulled the hunter back the two steps he took, that and he was taken aback by her speaking to him.

The Mexican, Martinez, decided to add his two cents in at that point. "Look, if you and I are gonna be out here pointing guns at each other all day, do me a favor, shut your mouth."

Of course that set Daryl off and he stalked up to the man, Hershel spoke hoping it would get to the two, "We don't need this. If all goes south in there, we'll be at each other's throats soon enough."

* * *

Daryl made no attempt to move, Rayne sighed sliding off the hood and grabbed the hunter by the arm, pulling him back towards the car. She hopped back up on the hood and pulled the hunter back between her legs, tilting her head up she brushed her lips across his ear. "Relax D, that asshole is not worth it. You'll get your chance to shoot him, of that I'm positive."

* * *

Daryl was shocked on two levels, one because not only was Rayne speaking to him, her soft lips brushing his ear, but second she had touched him. Standing between her legs, feeling the heat of her body against him was almost more than Daryl could take. He was having thoughts pass through his mind right now that could get them all in trouble, or killed.

* * *

Rayne could feel the tension radiating off of Daryl, she needed to get him to focus on something other than the asshole standing by the truck. She pulled him back tighter to her, snaking her right hand under his vest, jacket and shirt until her fingers found the soft flesh of his back. She felt him flinch slightly at her touch, but as she ran her fingers over one of his scars she felt him relax into her touch. He was allowing her to touch him, that in itself was a victory for Rayne.

* * *

Daryl felt Rayne pull him back closer to her, his legs hitting the bumper of the car. He flinched as he felt her fingertips brush the skin of his back. He wanted to kick himself for that, here was Rayne actually touching him and he had to do something stupid like that. He felt her finger trace over one of his scars, her soft skin coupled with the heat of her touch calmed Daryl, he felt himself instantly relax into her touch. Daryl had achieved three victories today, one Rayne had spoken to him, two she had touched him and three he was allowing her to touch him. Daryl's back was a part of his body he never allowed anyone to touch or see. Just him allowing her to brush her fingertips over it was a victory in itself.

* * *

The group sees Andrea walk outside, a look of defeat on her face as she sits down on a bench by the door. The longevity of the situation is taking its toll on Daryl as he again starts pacing in front of Rayne. Within a few minutes he had moved back to his place in between Rayne's legs which caused her to smile knowing he was looking for comfort, she again placed her hand under his shirt lightly stroking his skin.

* * *

Daryl couldn't stand the waiting game, he had stood up from his place between Rayne's legs and began pacing again. Within minutes he found himself craving her touch, she was the only thing keeping him calm. He stepped back to his previous spot, and gave a tiny smile as he felt her stroke his skin again. Even without a word, she knew what he needed at that moment.

* * *

The nerd took that moment to approach from the other side of the truck. "There's no reason not to use this time we have together to explore the issues ourselves."

"Boss said to sit tight and shut up."

"Don't you mean the Governor?" Daryl quipped.

"It's a good thing they're sitting down, especially after what happened. They're gonna work it out. Nobody wants another battle."

"I wouldn't exactly call it a battle." Rayne stated glaring holes through the nerd.

"I would call it a battle and I did." He held up a paper pad, "I recorded it."

"For what?"

The nerd looks to the hunter like the answer is obvious. "Somebody's got to keep a record of what we've gone through. It'll be a part of our history."

Hershel eyes the man, "That makes sense—"

"I've got dozens of interviews—"

The nerd is interrupted by the sound of walkers growling, the two hunters, Martinez and Andrea take off towards the sound coming from the buildings behind the truck. They run over finding a few walkers between the silo's, Daryl turns to the Mexican motioning with his arm, "After you."

"No way, you first." The Mexican points with his baseball bat.

"Oh Christ, come on Drea." The huntress pushes past both the men, the blonde right behind her. The two women take out the first two walkers with knives to the skulls.

The Mexican eyes the women then turns back to Daryl, "Pussy." He turns to the women's left smashing a walkers skull up against the silo with one swing, killing it.

Rayne watches the Mexican kill the walker then turn to Daryl with a look that says 'that's how it's done.' She watches Daryl roll his eyes at the man. "Oh give me a break." She mutters as she realizes this has turned into a pissing contest between the men.

The women watch as Daryl slams a bolt into a walkers head while Martinez smashes another's head in. Then Daryl fires another bolt through a female walkers eye, it goes straight through and lodges into the neck of another walker behind it. Martinez steps up to smash the walkers head but before he can, a hunting knife whips past his head, embedding in the skull of the walker. The two men share a mutual glance before Daryl steps over to raid the walkers pockets.

Rayne smiles as Daryl holds up a pack of cigarettes, "How lucky is that?"

Daryl takes one out placing it between his lips, a small thing that Rayne finds incredibly sexy. He holds out the pack to Martinez who waves him off, "Nah, I prefer menthols."

Daryl pockets the pack and pulls out his lighter, mumbling around the cigarette, "Douchebag." He lights the cig and pockets the lighter, turning to Martinez, "You army or somethin'?" Rayne leans against the silo in front of Daryl as the two men converse.

"Nah, I just—I just hate these things. After what they did to my wife, kids."

Daryl nods taking a drag from the cig, "Sucks."

Martinez nods, "Thanks." There's a pregnant pause. "You know this is a joke, right? They ain't gonna work anything out. Sure, they'll do their little dance and tomorrow, next day… they'll give the word."

"I know."

None of them are expecting anything good to come out of these talks, they know in the end, one group will destroy the other. Martinez nods to the pack, Daryl pulls it out handing one to the man.

* * *

The trio makes their way back to the cars, noticing first the Governor then Rick exiting the building. Everyone makes their way to their respective cars, Rayne hops back onto the bike with Daryl, her arms secured around his waist. As they fly down the road Rayne tilts her head back reveling in the wind, her long hair trailing behind her like a waterfall. It was times like this she wished she had met Daryl before this apocalypse happened. She relished the thought of riding down the roads, no destination in mind, just the two of them. Then her serenity is shattered by the growling of a passing walker and she reminds herself that those days are far off… If they ever happen at all.

But as she rests her head on Daryl's back she feels his left hand squeeze her own and she knows there is no place she'd rather be. This is the hand they were dealt, this is their life now and as long as she has Daryl and her family, she has all she will ever need.

* * *

They pull up to the gate of the prison, Carol pulling it open to let them inside. Daryl parks the bike on the side of the building and Rayne hops off stepping back to the car behind them. The group meets them out in the courtyard but Rick retreats them all back inside quickly. As they gather inside the cell block door, Rick reaches inside a cell picking up his rifle, he turns to face the group.

"So, I met this Governor. Sat with him for quite a while."

"Just the two of you?" Merle wonders, his curiosity peaking.

"Should have gone when we had the chance, bro." Merle gives a pointed look to Glenn as he steps past walking towards the common room.

"He wants the prison." Rick continues speaking making sure he takes in everyone's reactions. "He wants us gone. Dead. He wants us dead—for what we did to Woodbury." Rick takes a moment to let everyone take in that information. "We're going to war."


	31. Prey

**Disclaimer - I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

Thank you to **NicoleR85,** **Daydreamer003, Shadowprincesskitten & lilnightmare17 **for their reviews.

Thank you to all of you who have followed or favored myself and my story. I would love some reviews, let me know if you guys are liking my character and my interpretation of the series.

Sorry for the short chapters, I promise the last ones will be nice and long.

xoxo Tiearney

* * *

The next morning Rayne heads out to the far tower to stand watch while Rick takes post on the other next to the courtyard. A sound catches Rayne's ear, like the sound you make when someone surprises you from behind. She cocks her head, training her ears towards the forest.

From his tower Rick notices her concentration, "Everything okay Rayne?"

Rayne turns her head at Rick's yell, "Yeah, just though I heard somethin', from over there."

Rick picks up his rifle pointing the scope in the direction Rayne indicated, he had a better view of the front of the woods from his tower. He pans the rifle over the area, stopping when he thinks he sees something. He pulls his eyes back then looks through the scope again, still nothing. He lowers the rifle shaking his head to Rayne, "Nothing."

She nods back brushing it off as exhaustion, she really needed to get some more rest, still there was a nagging feeling in her gut that told her she had heard something.

If she only knew how right she was.


	32. This Sorrowful Life

**Disclaimer - I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

Thank you to **NicoleR85, Daydreamer003 and**** Shadowprincesskitten **for their reviews.

Thank you to all of you who have followed or favored myself and my story. I would love some reviews, let me know if you guys are liking my character and my interpretation of the series.

xoxo Tiearney

* * *

The next morning is judgment day for the prison, the day the Governor would decide their fate. Rick, Rayne, Daryl and Hershel stand in the courtyard in the early morning light.

"It's the only way. No one else knows."

Rayne shakes her head, she cannot believe she's standing here in the courtyard listening to Rick discuss giving up Michonne to save their asses.

Daryl nods glancing at the cop, "You gonna tell 'em?"

"Not till after. We have to do it today. It has to be quiet."

Daryl nods, but a part of him is not fully on board with this idea. Just as Rayne believed, he did has well, Michonne had earned her place with them. Nothing about this felt right at all. "You got a plan?"

Rick nods, "We tell her we need to talk. Away from the others."

Rayne has heard enough, "Give me a break Rick. Just tell her the truth. If you're gonna hand her over to her death, at least be a man about it." She bites her tongue a moment, but then realizes this is her only chance to say something. "This isn't right. She has earned her spot here, she is one of us. Do you honestly believe that if you hand her over, he's just gonna let us all go? Please. Look at everythin' he has done up until now, you can't tell me you think for one moment that he won't still kill us all." The look he gives her makes her laugh, a dry hollow laugh. "Wow. You really are a fool. Michonne was right. The Governor is a smooth talker. He's got you buffaloed. He has you right where he wants you and you don't even realize it. What if it was one a us he wanted? What if it was me? Would you willin'ly hand me over, on the slim chance that it might save everyone else?"

Rick's silence is a slap to the face, Rayne could literally feel the red welt handprint on her cheek. "Wow. You really are a son-of-a-bitch. You do what you want, but just remember one thang. When everythin' I've said, comes out to be the truth, and it will, because I know it will. The blood will be on your hands, and ya won't be able to wash it away." She looks back and forth between the two men, one that has grown to be like a father to her and one that has stolen her heart. "I will not be a part a this."

Daryl watches Rayne walk away back inside the prison, he knows everything she has said is right. He turns back to Rick biting his cheek and shakes his head, "Just ain't us, man."

"No. No, it isn't." Hershel shakes his head as he grabs his crutches making his way back inside, he cannot stand there and listen to the two men converse any longer.

Rick watches the elder man leave, then turns to the hunter. "We do this, we avoid a fight. No one else dies."

Daryl still doesn't believe it's what's right but he trusts Rick's call. He nods, "Okay."

"We need someone else."

Daryl reads Rick's mind, "I'll talk to him."

"I'll do it."

"I'll go with you."

"No. Just me."

* * *

Rick takes his leave to go find Merle, while Daryl moves towards Rayne's truck, he noticed her walking towards it during their conversation. He finds her sitting on the tailgate cleaning her bow, he hoists himself up setting down next to her. He took in her over concentrating gaze, she was trying hard to ignore him.

"You hate me?"

His question caught her off guard, but she simply shook her head as she continued with her work. She felt him tuck her hair behind her right ear, she tilted her head to find him gazing at her.

"I don't agree with Rick's plan, but—it's his call and I trust him."

Rayne nodded, she knew Daryl trusted Rick, she trusted them both, but this wasn't right. She could only hope that Rick figured that out before he went to far and there was no going back.

"Rayne, when this all over, I wanna talk, about everythin'."

She gives him a sideways smile, "Sounds good to me."

* * *

The two of them meet up with Glenn, Michonne and Hershel in the courtyard. While Maggie and Carl distract some of the walkers towards the front fence, Daryl and Glenn place a piece of wood covered in coils of barbed wire in the field, incase of another stunt by the Governor. Rayne and Michonne pull out their blades covering the men, then they jump back into the truck and Hershel drives them back into the courtyard.

The group converses for a moment, Rick finding out that the barbed wire was Michonne's idea. His gaze moves from Daryl's to Rayne's, nodding at them both, he ushers them all inside.

* * *

Daryl makes his way around the courtyard finding Glenn trying to repair the metal gates that were knocked down by the walkers thanks to Andrew.

"Hey you seen Merle around?"

Glenn merely gives Daryl an incredulous look before turning back to his task. Daryl steps over setting his crossbow down and helping Glenn reattach the chains to the doors.

"He say he was sorry yet?" Daryl glances over at the young man as they thread the chains through the bars. "Cause he is."

Glenn latches the padlock and grabs a crate filled with bottle taking them over to the picnic table where Daryl set down his bow.

"He's gonna make it right. I'ma make him. There's gotta be a way. Just needs to be a lil forgiveness is all."

Glenn stops what he's doing, he steps in front of Daryl licking his lips. "He tied me to a chair, beat me, and threw a walker in the room. Maybe I could call it even. But he—he took Maggie to a man who terrorized her, humiliated her. I care more about her than I care about me. And what about what he did to Rayne? Huh Daryl? I know you care for her, more than you'll ever admit. Can you forgive him so easily? Cause if you can, then you don't care for her and you don't deserve her."

* * *

Daryl watches Glenn walk back to the table, his mind thinking hard about what the young kid had to say. He steps forward snatching his bow from the table top then leaving. Daryl heads inside searching for his brother, he hears noise coming from the generator room. He makes his way down the hall, his crossbow trained in front of him. "Merle. You down here?"

Merle looks up as his brother comes through the door, "Hey, little brother."

"What the hell?"

"I was just about to holler back at ya."

"What you doin' down here?"

"Just looking for a little uh crystal, man."

Merle sighs at his brother's shaking head, "Yeah, yeah, I know. Shit will mess my life up when everything is going so sweet, right?" Merle chuckles at his own joke.

"You talk to Rick yet?"

"Yeah. Oh, yeah. I'm in. But, uh, he ain't got the stomach for it. He's gonna buckle. You know that, right?"

Daryl chews the inside of his cheek nodding, "Yeah. If he does, he does."

"You want him to?"

Daryl thinks for a moment, "Whatever he says goes."

Merle scoffs, "Man. Do you even possess a pair of balls, little brother? Are they even attached? I mean, if they are, do they belong to you? Or does your huntress have to give you permission to use them? You used to call people like that sheep. What happened to you?"

"What happened with you and Glenn and Maggie? And Rayne?"

"I've done worse. You need to grow up. Things are different now." Merle's face contorts in anger, his lower lip shaking. "Your people look at me like I'm the devil… grabbing up those lovebirds like that, huh? Now y'all want to do the same thing I did—snatch someone up and deliver them to the Governor, just like me. Yeah. People do what they got to do or they die."

Daryl shakes his head, "Can't do things without people anymore, man."

Again Merle scoffs, "Maybe these people need somebody like me around, huh? Do their dirty work. The bad guy. Yeah, maybe that's how it is now, huh? How does that hit you"

Daryl reaches out laying his hand on his brother's shoulder, "I just want my brother back."

"Get out a here, man." Merle shoves Daryl's hand off, watching his younger sibling leave.

* * *

Daryl meets back up with Rayne in the courtyard, they're talking about what's about to go down when Rick runs up to them. "It's off. We'll take our chances." Rick notices the smirk on Rayne's face and rolls his eyes as she chuckles.

"I'm not saying it was the wrong call, but this is definitely the right one." Daryl is relived to hear that Rick changed his mind but he notices something is bothering the cop. "What's wrong?"

"I can't find Merle or Michonne. They've gone."

"Come on." Daryl leads the trio into the building and down to the generator room where he left his brother. "He was in here. Said he was looking for drugs."

Rayne scoffs, "No surprise there."

"Said a lot of things, actually."

"Like what?"

"Said that you were gonna change your mind. Here we go." The two men move behind the generators and find a pillowcase on the floor. "Yeah, he took her here. They mixed it up."

"Damn it! I'm going after him." Rick heads down the small hallway leading to the outside door.

"You can't track for shit."

"Then the both of us."

"No, just me. I said I'd go and I'll go."

"You're not goin' alone D." Rayne steps up next to him, he nods knowing two trackers are better than one.

Daryl turns to Rick, "Plus they're gonna come back here. You need to be ready. Your family, too."

* * *

The two hunters take off out of the gates running fast, they find tracks quickly and decide Merle's about an hour ahead of them. They push forward through the neighborhoods, they come upon a severed head, still alive and gnashing its teeth at the two. Suddenly a blade pierces through its head, Michonne on the other end of the blade, but no Merle.

"Hey. Where's my brother?" The two approach her slowly. "You kill him?"

Michonne shakes her head, "He let me go."

The two eye one another before they reach a decision, Daryl turns to the warrior, "Don't let anyone come after us."

* * *

The two make their way towards the spot where they were supposed to meet up with the Governor. Bows at the ready they silently move from building to building passing walkers too busy tearing into a corpse to notice them. They move down the road Daryl leading the way, Rayne taking in the dead walkers and human corpses that were once the Governor's men.

Daryl takes out a walker tearing into a corpse in front of them with a bolt through the back of its head. He takes another arrow out of his quiver as he sees another to his right, just as he moves towards to stab it in the head he pauses. Something about this walker is familiar to him.

* * *

Rayne watches Daryl take another arrow from his quiver and approach the walker to their right kneeling over a corpse. She draws her bow as back up for the hunter as they slowly step towards it. The walker sensing their presence lifts its head, a mouth full of entrails hanging from its lips. Rayne's breath catches in her throat as her heart drops to her stomach…

Merle.

* * *

Daryl's face contorts in pain and anger as the walker raises its head to reveal the face of his brother, his flesh and blood staring back at him. Daryl can't stop the tears as he stares at the last of his family, now one of the very things he has spent his last years killing. He vaguely hears Rayne behind him as she chokes out a sob and a whisper, he knows it was more for him than Merle, but he doesn't blame her.

* * *

Rayne can feel her eyes tearing up, the warm liquid trickling down her cheeks. She lowers her bow, she may be a killer of walkers but even she can't bear to take this shot. "Oh Daryl." Still she stands by, bow at the ready. If Daryl cannot do this himself she will take the shot and bear the burden of this death on her shoulders. She watches Merle's corpse stand, tripping over the carcass on the ground as he moves towards the two of them. She may not have given a damn about Merle after what he put them all through, no, her tears were for Daryl, but she couldn't help but feel sorry for the man. In the end Merle had tried to do the right thing and this was how he ended up.

* * *

Daryl watched as his brother's corpse stood up, tripping over the body at his feet in his haste to reach the living body before him. Sobs wracked his body as he shoved the walker away from him, his voice horse as he yelled out in despair. Then again he shoved him away, Daryl wasn't sure if he had it in him to kill his brother. The walker charged again, this time Daryl took out his hunting knife stabbing it into Merle's shoulder, shoving him backwards and to the ground. Daryl landed on top of his brother's body his knees on either side of Merle's torso, as he pulled the knife from his brother's shoulder and stabbed it down into his head.

* * *

Rayne watched as Daryl shoved Merle back twice before he pulled out his knife and drove it into the walker's shoulder. The two fell to the ground Daryl straddling his brother's body, he pulled the knife out and repeatedly brought it down stabbing into his brother's head. Rayne counted seven times before Daryl shoved himself backwards onto the grass at his brother's feet. Rayne moved forward slowly not wanting to alarm the hunter, she knelt down as she reached him laying her bow on the grass. Reaching out with tentative fingers she laid her hand gently on Daryl's shoulder waiting for his reaction.

* * *

Daryl pulled the knife out and jammed it back down again, and again, and again, before he threw himself backwards away from his brother's body. He cried heavily as he stared at his brother's corpse. He had just killed his brother. He was alone. He had no one anymore. Just as he had turned over on his side he felt a light touch on his shoulder. It was then he remembered that Rayne was here with him. He turned his head catching her eyes, where he expected to see pity he only saw understanding and comfort. The tears from her eyes were for them both, for his loss of his brother and for her not knowing if her own was alive or dead.

* * *

Rayne was surprised when he didn't lash out at her like she had expected him to do. He only turned his head, Cobalt meeting Cerulean, his tear stained face matched her own. She knew he was surprised to see her crying for Merle and yes a small, tiny piece of her was grieving for the man. But the majority of her tears were for Daryl's loss and for her own being as she had no idea whether her own brother was alive or dead, as well as her entire family.

* * *

Daryl broke their gaze turning back to look upon his brother's corpse once again. He rested back on his elbows before he collapsed onto Rayne's lap. He turned to his right burying his face in Rayne's stomach as his arms curled around her right side clinging to the back of her shirt. He didn't care how pathetic he looked at this moment, he had just killed his brother and for once he just had to let things out. He knew nothing would go beyond he and Rayne unless he said otherwise, that was something he realized he was grateful to her for. Not once had she ever spoken to the group or an individual about anything that had gone on between them.

* * *

Rayne was shocked when Daryl collapsed back onto her knees sobbing, more so when he turned and buried his head into her stomach. Before she could make a move he wrapped his arms tightly around her right side, his hands fisting into her black long sleeved shirt. She knew any other time he would worry about looking pathetic, but there was no one around. After what he had just went through he was allowed time to grieve and she wouldn't say a word of this to anyone unless Daryl told her to. Rayne hadn't consoled someone in so long she wasn't sure she remembered how, but with Daryl it came back naturally. She whispered to him as she ran her fingers through his hair and rubbed the back of his neck.

* * *

Daryl could hear Rayne whispering comfort to him as she stroked her fingers through his hair and across his neck. He didn't know how long he laid there, but he did know that the longer he did the more relaxed he felt. By the time they parted he felt a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. He took a deep breath standing up then extending his hand down to Rayne. She took it with a small smile and he helped pull her to her feet. He picked up his crossbow and watched as Rayne bent down retrieving hers as well. A thought occurred to him and before she could walk away he lightly grabbed her elbow and spun her back to face him.

* * *

Again Rayne was shocked as they parted and stood up retrieving their bows, before she could take a step Daryl had gently grasped her elbow and turned her back towards him. He pulled her into his chest and after a long look into her eyes, he leaned down pressing his lips to hers. Rayne melted into him as their lips met, her free hand coming up to rest lightly on his cheek, her thumb stroking his stubble. She took a deep breath as they parted, Daryl lightly resting his forehead against hers. No words needed to be spoken, she knew what he was saying. Rayne smiled up at him as he kissed her forehead and took her hand entwining their fingers as they started back towards the prison.

* * *

Daryl shocked himself with his boldness as he pulled her flush against his body, then leaned down capturing her lips with his own, savoring the softness of hers against his rough chapped ones. He felt her relax, her right hand coming up to rest against his cheek sending tingles through his body as she ran her thumb along his stubble. He took a deep breath as they parted just as she did, he tilted his head down resting their foreheads together. He knew he didn't need to say what he was thinking, she just knew. He saw her smile up at him and just as every time before his heart leap to his throat. Who knew that such a simple thing could mean so much to him. He brushed his lips over her skin, kissing her forehead before taking her right hand in his own and starting back for the prison.


	33. Welcome to the Tombs

**Disclaimer - I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own my original character Rayne and anything else that seems out of place.**

Thank you to everyone who reviewed.

Thank you to all of you who have followed or favored myself and my story. I would love some reviews, let me know if you guys are liking my character and my interpretation of the series.

xoxo Tiearney

* * *

By the time the two got back to the prison, the group was in the courtyard packing their belongings into the vehicles. No one spoke a word about the hunter's entwined fingers, just smiled as the two walked up, truthfully they all thought it was about time.

The two parted after a small kiss which surprised Rayne as Daryl initiated it. She knew he wasn't one for public affection, nor was he one to start things, so it was a pleasant surprise. After loading her things she came back over to him, leaning on the tank of Merle's motorcycle, she saw Carol walk up behind Daryl and the two women shared a smile.

"You know, Merle never did nothin' like that his whole life."

"He gave us a chance." Carol held her hand out to Daryl, which he took as she helped him up off the ground. He took his things to Rayne's truck tossing them into the cab, he had decided to leave Merle's bike behind, too much of a painful reminder.

* * *

Suddenly Rayne remembered something she had left in the tower the night she was on watch. Daryl offered to go with her to get it but she assured him with a light kiss she'd be right back. She made her way down through the dog run to the base of the tower and inside of the door, jogging up the stairs to the top she finds her necklace with her brother's Navy Cross laying on the floor.

Before she knew what had happened she heard a loud explosion to her left. She turned and looked out of the windows finding the tower at the front gate on fire. Her eyes dropped to the ground where a convoy of military vehicles were speeding into the yard. A fifty caliber machine gun took out the tower to the right of the gate then fired upon the front of the prison and the courtyard. The walkers mulling around were cut in half by the powerful bullets piercing through their bodies.

Rayne followed the convoy as it came to a halt in the field, her eyes going wide as she sees Martinez pointing a rocket launcher at her tower. "Oh, shit!" Rayne jumps down into the stairwell as the tower explodes above her, the sound reverberating through the air. She lands in a heap at the bottom her head bouncing off of the floor blurring her vision. She looks up then quickly covers her head as the debris from above fall down on top of her.

* * *

Outside the people in the back of the rig open fire taking out the walkers surrounding the truck. Once the walkers have been dispatched the group jumps down out of the truck, the Governor steps up giving them an order as they move towards the prison courtyard following a Bronco that smashes the gate open. They find nothing in the courtyard, no sign of anyone ever being there. They hook a chain up to the outside door and using the Bronco, pull it from its hinges then the group rushes inside. The file up to the steel door, sliding it open they head inside to the cell block. They find no trace of any living person inside the cell block.

The Governor spots a bible in one of the cells, open to a certain page. Curiosity gets him and picks the book up, highlighted on the page is a passage. "And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation."

They make their way down into the tombs when an explosion rocks them, a blinding light causing them to cover their eyes. Flashbangs. Then without warning the alarms start blaring, the red lights flashing above them. Walkers start coming from every direction, they cut through them running back out into the courtyard where they are met with gunfire.

Glenn and Maggie open fire from the catwalk above them, while Rayne has made her way outside of the tower and opened fire from behind the tower. The Governor and his army quickly retreat to their vehicles and speed back down the road.

* * *

Rayne makes her way up to the courtyard meeting up with part of their group. Daryl immediately comes to her side eyeing her bleeding head, Rayne waves him off. "I'm fine. Just a chunk of concrete is all."

"Shouldn't have let you go."

Rayne smiled leaning up and planting a small kiss on his lips, "Don't worry so much."

"Can't help it with you." He kisses her again before turning back to the group.

Rick eyes the abandoned vehicles, "We did it. We drove them out."

"We should go after them."

"We should finish it." Daryl says agreeing with Michonne.

"It is finished. Didn't you see them high tail it out of here."

Michonne turns to Maggie, "They could regroup."

"We can't take the chance. He's not gonna stop." Glenn urges them.

Carol's breathless voice cuts in, "They're right. We can't keep living like this."

"So we take the fight back to Woodbury? We barely made it back last time." Maggie reminds them, no part of her wants to go back to that place.

"He don't care." Daryl reminds the young brunette.

Rick agrees as they move back inside, "Let's check on the others."

* * *

They move back inside as Beth, Hershel and Carl come in through the side doors. Rick kisses his daughter and hugs Carl while the others go out to unload the cars. After which the group meets up at the cars, Glenn informs them that he and Maggie are staying at the prison in case the Governor comes back.

"Just the four of us?" Daryl's eyes move from Glenn to Rick before he straps the rifle over his back. "Alright."

* * *

Rayne hops on the back of the bike with Daryl, while Rick drives the Dodge, Michonne sitting shotgun and they take off down the road. Halfway there they come upon the convoy of military vehicles that had broke into the prison. Daryl and Rayne lead the way their bows at the ready as they make their way towards the vehicles. Daryl shoots a walker in the head and Michonne slices one's head in half, while Rayne takes out the last two with arrows. Rick takes out the last one standing with a knife to the head.

Daryl is standing by the big rig's cab when someone slams on the window from the inside causing him to jump and turn around quickly. Rick raises his gun as Daryl opens the door helping the woman down from inside, and together the five of them make their way to Woodbury. It's nightfall as they approach the front gates crouching behind a car, they are soon fired upon from the top of the wall. The four of them fire back taking shelter behind the burned out car.

The woman with them, Karen stands up, "Tyreese! It's me! Don't—"

"Get down!" Rick pulls her down before she gets herself shot.

"Karen! Karen are you okay?!" A man's voice floats down from on top of the wall.

She jumps up, "I'm fine!"

"Where's the Governor?"

"He fired on everyone. He killed them all."

"Why are you with them?"

"They saved me."

Rick makes a decision, "We're coming out!" He stands up holstering his weapon, ignoring Daryl telling him no, and moves out from behind the car. "We're coming out."

Daryl moves out into the open, Rayne behind them, they both sigh and against their better judgment put their hands in the air letting their weapons hang from the straps.

The gate is opened and two people step out, a man obviously Tyreese and a woman, Rick recognizes them as two of the people he kicked out of the prison. The group puts their hands down as Tyreese addresses Rick. "What are you doing here?"

"We were coming to finish this until we saw what the Governor did."

"He—he killed them?"

Rick sighs nodding, "Karen told us Andrea hopped the wall going for the prison. She never made it. She might be here."

* * *

They move for the building where the Governor had kept Glenn, Maggie, Rayne and Daryl. Slowly they step inside watching out for any indication of Andrea. "This is where he had Glenn and Maggie."

"The Governor held people here?"

"He did more than hold them." Daryl glanced over at Rayne as he spoke, she gave him a grim smile letting him know she understood.

They come around the corner to a latched metal door, their eyes find a pool of blood spreading out from underneath the door. Michonne looks grimly at the door then to Rick, "Will you open it?"

Guns raised, Rick reaches for the latch, "One, two…" He pops the latch and the door springs open, a walker lies dead on the floor, it's Milton, the Governor's right hand man. Their eyes fall to the floor just to the left of the door, a pair of bare feet are sticking out in the open.

"Andrea!"

Michonne rushes to the woman's left side while Rayne kneels down by the door. Michonne lifts her head up, she smiles as she sees them. Rick kneels down before her while Daryl stands behind his huntress.

"I tried to stop them."

"You're burning up." Michonne feels her head, she knows what this means and it breaks her heart.

Andrea lifts her jacket away from her left shoulder revealing the deep bite wound on her neck. She sits up, "Judith, Carl, the rest of them…"

"Us." Rick leans forward looking her in the eye, she is still apart of them and he wants her to know it. "The rest of us."

"Are they alive?"

Rick's eyes move from Rayne up to Daryl and back down to Andrea. "Yeah, they're alive."

Andrea smiles as she looks around at her friends, before she locks eyes with Michonne. "It's good you found them. No one can make it alone now." Andrea looks pointedly at Daryl who nods telling her, "They never could."

Michonne's resolve has broken, she is crying freely, tears falling rapidly down her face. Rayne takes her hand as she lets her own tears fall, the warrior squeezes her hand letting the huntress know she appreciates it.

"I just didn't want anyone to die." Andrea takes a breath as she straightens up. "I can do it myself."

"No." Michonne refuses to let her friend take her own life.

"I have to. While I still can. Please." She looks pointedly at Rick. "I know how the safety works."

She earns a small sad laugh from Rayne, and as Rick reaches for his gun Rayne stops him shaking her head. She pulls out one of her Glocks from her holster, matching stares with Andrea she gives a light chuckle, "I willin'ly gave ya this before hopin' you'd pull the trigger." Andrea gives her a smile of understanding. "And now—" Rayne blows out a big breath. "Now I don't want to give it to ya." Rayne chokes on her words, her voice stuttering as it's wracked with sobs. She sets the gun down in Andrea's hand squeezing it with her own.

"Well, I'm not going anywhere." Michonne tells her with conviction as the tears continue to fall.

"Me neither." Rayne states. "Together till the end Drea."

Andrea looks between the two women, wondering how she was ever lucky to have these two women in her life. Even though she didn't always get along that well with Rayne, the two of them had an understanding. Her eyes pass over Daryl who gives her the tiniest of smiles before she meets Rick's gaze. "I tried."

"Yeah. You did. You did." Rick stands up walking out of the room with Daryl, leaving the women to their privacy.

The two women take their friends hand, gripping it tightly between theirs. Surprisingly Andrea hasn't shed a tear, she knew what was coming. Plus, her friends were doing enough crying for them all.

* * *

Outside the room the three men waited, then the inevitable gunshot sounded signaling the end of their friends suffering.

Rayne stood up holstering her gun, together she and Michonne wrapped Andrea's body in a brown blanket. 'She's going back with us, where she belongs.' That's what Rayne had told Rick and he didn't question her, he knew she was right.

* * *

The sun had rose signaling the start of a new day as the group headed back to the prison. Daryl and Rayne lead the way, then Michonne and Rick in the truck, then Tyreese and his sister Sasha in a school bus carrying the survivors of Woodbury. The four of them had decided to bring the lot back with them, it was the right thing to do in the end. Andrea's words rang in their heads, 'No one can make it alone now.' She was right.

They pulled into the courtyard, Glenn and Maggie opening and closing the gate. Carl, Beth, Carol and Hershel came out of the doors to greet them. The group greeted the new arrivals as they stepped off the bus, ushering them inside to safety.

Rayne saw Rick staring up at the catwalk above him, she knew he was looking for Lori. When he didn't see her he knew that Rayne was right, Lori had been guiding him and he had done what was right, now she could rest. He smiled and turned towards Rayne nodding, she smiled back. She was the only one he had told about his visions of Lori, she was the one who had told him that perhaps Lori was trying to lead him in a direction and he just needed to follow.

* * *

That afternoon they buried Andrea next to the others where she belonged and got their friends settled into their new home. For the first time the cell block was filled with laughter and children playing, it gave them all hope.

Rayne smiled as she slipped out of the door to the courtyard, enjoying the last rays of sunlight filtering through the clouds in the sky. This was the first time she had stepped outside with only her Glocks on her thighs and knives in her boots, her other weapons were safely tucked away in hers and Daryl's room. That thought too making her smile even more. He decided when they had got back that she was no longer sleeping alone and if the only way for them to have privacy was in a cell, then that's where they would be. They decided even though they didn't like being caged, it was easier to accept together.

She crossed her arms over her chest, it was summer time but the nights were still a little chilly and she did only have on her black long sleeved shirt. She smirked as she felt hands grab her waist, hauling her back against a well defined chest. She knew by the hands who it was but decided to have a little fun.

"You better watch it, my hunter is very protective of men touchin' me."

"Is that so?" Daryl's velvet voice rumbled in her ear as she nodded. "I think I can handle him."

"I don't know, he's pretty tough."

"Well so am I." Daryl spun her around locking his arms around her lower back.

Her arms went around his neck, her hand pulling him closer, "Don't I know it."

Their lips met, the world around them dissolving leaving just the two of them. Neither wanted the moment to end, but they did have some things to talk about. Daryl pulled back first knowing that if he didn't say what he needed to, he was going to forget, kissing Rayne made him forget a lot of things.

"Rayne… I'm sorry for that day in the forest, I never meant to hurt you—"

She holds up her hand shushing him, "Forgiven. Next."

He smiles, "I'm sorry for leavin'—"

"Family comes first."

"You are my family now, my only family."

Rayne points to the prison, "No, everyone in there is your family too."

He shakes his head, leave it to her to bring things to his attention he hadn't noticed yet. His face becomes solemn as he meets her eyes, "I'm sorry I didn't believe you. I never thought Merle could do somethin' like that. I didn't want to believe it—"

"Daryl, enough. It's okay. I was hurt yes, but I understand why you chose him. He's family, and no one wants to believe somethin' like that about their blood. Next."

He sighs, somehow the more she forgives him the lighter his chest feels. "I'm sorry for pushing you away…"

"Daryl, we could be out here all night with you saying you're sorry about a lot of stuff." She smirks as he gives her a small glare. "My point is, no matter what you say, I'm gonna forgive you. Look 'round you, this is our life now. We're all that's left. So it doesn't matter how many times you screw up, how many times we fight and argue. I am not lettin' you go Daryl. You are stuck with me for however long I am blessed to have you."

Daryl couldn't speak, and it wasn't just because his heart was lodged in his throat. Rayne had rendered him unable to speak, he had no words. So he did the next best thing he could think of, he pulled her in close again and kissed her hard. This time was different though. It was harder, rougher, full of passion. Daryl's left hand gripped Rayne's hip squeezing lightly, while his right hand slid up her back, underneath her hair and tangled in the dark locks tugging her head back slightly.

Rayne felt him tug her hair and a small moan crept up her throat, but it was swallowed by Daryl's mouth ravaging hers. His kisses were intoxicating, she felt like she could kiss him for the rest of her life and never get enough. He was like air to her.

The two broke apart and after a long gaze at one another they headed back inside their home.

* * *

That night as they lie in bed together, Rayne smiling at Daryl's breath on the back of her neck as he spooned up behind her. She listened to the soft whispers of her family, now bigger with the addition of the new members. Rayne fingered the cross around her neck, she missed her family so much, it hurt her heart any time she thought of them. She knew they were alive, something inside of her told her they were. She would find them one day, she knew it. Even after she found them, this group was her family, and they were enough to keep her holding on. They kept her spirit and hope alive, she would fight and die for them.

Who ever would've thought that she would lose one family, only to find another. In this new world, good people were hard to come by. Rayne thanked the stars every night that she had found this group, just when things were growing thin. Rick always says even to this day, that Rayne had saved their lives that day in Atlanta. But the truth was, they had saved her.


End file.
